


excuse me, my manners just left the build-a-bear

by K_Morpho, plush_invicta



Series: Build-A-Bear AU [1]
Category: LOONA (Korea Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Comedy, F/F, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Romance, hyunjin is a hot mess: the series
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-03
Updated: 2019-05-21
Packaged: 2019-06-01 18:30:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 31,360
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15149261
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/K_Morpho/pseuds/K_Morpho, https://archiveofourown.org/users/plush_invicta/pseuds/plush_invicta
Summary: Hyunjin thinks it takes a hero to cry publicly in a mall without a costume on.A simple(?) 2jin college AU: Hyunjin works as a mascot edition.





	1. Pink Bunny

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hyunjin was so fun to write for, ngl; she really is hysterical. thanks to my beta readers for helping me, you guys are the best. 
> 
> hansol i nabbed from woomanna, btw.
> 
> Title taken from autopilot - reese lansangan
> 
> EDIT: 7/3/18 - Minor grammatical/formatting/etc corrections.  
> EDIT: 8/4/18 - Changed all instances of Vivi to Kahei, and other minor corrections.  
> EDIT: 9/2/18 - Changed all instances of Kahei to Ara. I pinky promise this is her last name change.

Hyunjin channels all of her despair through her eye sockets, praying that the message gets through to the other side.

“Look at how happy the cat is!” A parent gushes as his children run laps around her legs and shriek unrelentlessly.

Curses. The material of the costume is thick enough to insulate and trap all the anguish on the inside― the cute, fluffy mascot is all the ignorant masses see.

The only person that feels perhaps even more miserable than she does is the girl that she spies on a nearby mall table, sniffling into an ice cream swirl half the size of her head. Hyunjin wishes she had as much power as the girl had, crying in a public mall. She’s already doing that (crying) on the inside of the costume, but it takes a genuine hero to do so without a mask hiding her face.

Hyunjin can respect that― respect that immensely even. The other guests at the mall clearly don’t, with how they walk around her in a circle, five feet away from her at all times.

Some people are just less appreciative, she supposes.

“Say goodbye to the nice cat!” The mother peels off the child glued to her leg, scooping him up in her arms as the father wrestles with the other two. Hyunjin brings up her paws to wave in a way she knows is adorable, watching as the children finally (finally!) left.

Once they turn the corner, her attention is immediately drawn back to the girl, curious and intrigued for all the wrong reasons. She’s terribly pretty, even with snot dripping into her vanilla swirl; sharp eyes, button nose and perfect lips―

Hyunjin makes a quick and rash decision.

She takes two large strides towards the girl’s table. Stops. Does a 180. And enters the Build-A-Bear Workshop where she works.

The bell above chimes to the tune of her sharp entrance. Ara, her coworker, doesn’t even lift her head from where she’s collapsed on the countertop; she just lolls her head up to look at Hyunjin who starts running through the aisles, picking up random stuffed animals before dropping them back down arbitrarily.

“I’m the one who has to straighten everything you know,” Ara deadpans. “What on earth are you doing this time?”

_Aha!_ Hyunjin jumps and spins towards Ara, triumphantly holding up a pink bunny that reminds her of the other girl. Ara has barely enough energy to quirk a brow.

“Words, Hyunjin. Use your words.”

Her voice is a little muffled from the helmet, as she starts shuffling towards the clothing section of the store. “There’s a girl crying outside. I want to let her know that I’m grateful she’s crying for everyone who wants to cry in public but can’t.” A pause. “And I want her to feel better.”

“I― okay.” A longer pause. “Okay. You do that.”

“Do you think this thing needs clothes? It’s probably fine as is, right?” When there’s no answer she turns back around to find Ara facedown on the counter, dead to the world. Poor Ara, they had a lot more kids today than usual, their coworkers getting off their shift early and leaving her alone for the late crowd. Hyunjin ultimately interprets her silence as a yes, skipping along to the stuffing machine.

She hesitates for a moment when she’s in front of it, looking down at her massive paws, bigger than the bunny itself, then back at the machine. She shakes her head, nodding in resolution.

This is just going to require some surgical precision, is all. She’s seen Ara do this a bunch of times through the window; it can’t be that hard, right? Delicately, she pushes the back of the bunny onto the machine, turns it on, and stomps on the pump.

It comes to life with a roar, the deflated bunny filling in faster than Hyunjin thought it would.

It’s the racket that wakes Ara up from her impromptu nap. She jerks up from the countertop, head whirling towards the mascot menace. Her eyes widen when she realizes what’s going on, leaping from her seat and practically running towards Hyunjin.

“Wait, no no no, Hyunjin, you have to―”

It’s too late. With a sound like a rush of wind, the bunny’s arm overfills: bursting at the seams, sending stuffing shooting out of the arm, and flying everywhere.

The silence in the aftermath is telling. Both of them stare at the mess on the ground.

“...I’ll help you clean up when I’m done,” Hyunjin says. Ara pinches the bridge of her nose in between her forefinger and thumb, looking up at the ceiling.

“Get a new bunny. I’ll help you just this once.” She plucks the broken bunny out of Hyunjin’s hands and moves to toss it in the bin. The younger girl tiptoes past the heap of stuffing, picking up another pink rabbit and handing it to Ara when she sits down at the machine again.

The second session goes without a hitch, Ara squeezing it critically when she’s done. Apparently satisfied, she nearly hands it to Hyunjin before she stops herself. She grabs a heart from the container attached to the stuffing machine and hands it to Hyunjin instead.

“Are you sure you should be harassing people trying to cry in peace? Is this what you’re getting paid to do?”

“I’m contractually obligated to give people joy, yes.”

Ara snorts despite of herself.

“And what if she just wants to be left alone?”

Hyunjin shrugs loosely. “Then she can tell me _after_ I hand her the bunny.”

A sigh passes through Ara’s lips, before she suddenly straightens her posture and smiles so wide and sparkling it makes Hyunjin recoil.

“Now~!” Ara says, voice fake, bright, and bubbly. “You want to give the nice bunny a heartbeat right?”

Hyunjin shrinks back further, feeling like she let loose something from Pandora’s Box. She nods slowly.

“Rub the heart in between your hands~.”

Hyunjin does so.

“Rub the heart on your cheeks~.”

It takes a little more maneuvering, but she does so.

“Now blow on the heart!”

Hyunjin blows, belatedly realizing that she has a helmet on when Ara bites her bottom lip to restrain her laughter.

“N―Now give the nice bunny a big smile!”

The costume looks utterly dead and defeated from the outside.

“Fantastic!” Ara finally takes the heart from Hyunjin and sews up the back of the bunny, and hands it to Hyunjin.

“Please... please don’t ever do that again…” Hyunjin mutters, hugging the bunny close to her chest, “That was so creepy.” Ara waves her off, expression instantly defaulting to the overworked and tired college student Hyunjin knew her as.

“If you get reported and fired for harassment, I won’t miss you. I’ll be watching from the sides to see if the security comes for you _again_.”

“Why are you so mean to me,” Hyunjin finds herself muttering when she walks out the door.

“The bunny’s coming out of your paycheck!” Ara calls out after her.

The door closes shut in time with Hyunjin’s sigh. Thankfully, the girl is still there despite the time she had spent inside the store. Hyunjin doesn’t think she’s crying anymore, but she might as well be with how she sulks finishing up her ice cream.

Okay, take two. A nervousness enters Hyunjin’s system, making her palms itch and heart pound just a little bit faster. But she’s got this! She can talk to the girl, and cheer her up. She just has to walk towards her: one step, two step in front of the other. Like a fancy waltz except she’s only ever going forward.

Forward, she repeats, waltzing right back into the shop.

“Welcome back to Build-a-Bear,” Ara says dryly, not bothering to drag her eyes away from her phone.

Hyunjin ignores her, hugging the rabbit close to her chest and closing her eyes, one open palm in front of her face. She breathes in… And breathes out.

She pulls her hand away from her face, touching her fingers together inside her costume.

Zen mode, on.

She steps back outside.

Ok. Third time’s the charm.

Hyunjin takes stiff, large, and robotic strides towards her― approaching and approaching and sitting down before she has the chance to talk herself out of it.

The mystery girl jumps when she hears the chair screech, eyes blinking in utter confusion. Hyunjin’s breath catches in her throat now that she’s face-to-mask with the other girl.

She’s... _gorgeous_. One of the prettiest girl’s Hyunjin’s ever seen. Even with the red-rimmed eyes and Rudolph-red nose, makeup wiped clean with the mountain of tissues on the table, she’s gorgeous.

“...Uhm,” she says.

Oh, right.

Hyunjin waves from across the table, inexplicably happy when the other girl returns the wave through her bemusement.

She hides the bunny in her lap as she mimes tears running down her face through the costume, hoping the mask can pout for her. She puts her arms out and shrugs once.

_Why were you crying?_

“Oh,” the other girl flusters, as if she’s just _now_ embarrassed for sobbing in the middle of the mall. “It’s actually super dumb. Just some stuff that happened with my job, and I got in a fight with my boyfriend.”

Hyunjin squashes the mild disappointment at the ‘boyfriend’ part. (So maybe she also wanted to say hi because she thought the girl was cute. Not the purest of intentions, sure, but Hyunjin was going to see this through.) She beckons the other girl to keep on talking.

It was like a dam burst, a fire igniting in the other girl’s eyes quick as a match.

“I was late to a recording session for my job because I was on a date with him, and even though I was only a couple of minutes late, and apologized a lot, the older artists kept on excluding me and making these snide comments! Even though they never come in on time anyways!”

Hyunjin blinks, leaning back in her seat when the woman slaps her palm on the table. Holy crap. The bunny has claws.

“And then my boyfriend had the nerve to say that ‘Oh, well maybe we shouldn’t have met up today,’ like we haven’t been telling each other we miss each other and want to see each other every day. And that just opened up the floodgates for some of our _other_ issues and I... I just yelled at you about all of my problems.” Her volume gets smaller and smaller, and by the end of her rant she’s hiding away her face in her hands.

Hyunjin shakes her head rapidly, flails her arms to try to communicate that ‘ _It’s okay! You sounded like you need to talk to someone,’_ but then her shoulders start to shake and Hyunjin panics even more until she hears... laughter?

For once Hyunjin’s glad she has the mask on. She probably looks ridiculous with how she’s mesmerized with the other.

"I’m so sorry,” she says, breathless from laughter. “I really didn’t mean to rant so much. This was really weird, but thank you for listening.” She’s actually smiling now, the force of it making her eyes crinkle.

“I’m Heejin. And you?”

Hyunjin gestures to her nametag. ‘Whiskers’. The face Heejin makes, the scrunched up, appalled looking expression is a sight to behold.

“No, your real name, not that one.”

With a frown, Hyunjin makes an ‘X’ with her arms, shaking her head.

“You can’t tell me?”

A nod.

“Afraid it’ll ruin the magic?” Heejin teases. The tilt of her head and the lilt of her voice has Hyunjin’s palms sweating all over again. “Is that why you’re not talking?”

She barely has time to nod in return when there’s a voice calling for Heejin from the distance. The smile falters from Heejin’s face, brightness dimming from her eyes; a frown is tugging at Hyunjin’s lips before she knows it.

This must be the boyfriend, Hyunjin thinks, when he runs up to the table. He’s tall. His hair the perfect amount of disheveled; his grin, cute and boyish. And, most importantly, everything about him screams apologetic.

Reluctantly, she can at least admit to the appeal, just from a quick glance over. Though Heejin’s smile does drop, her eyes soften at his appearance, and it has Hyunjin biting her lip and gripping at the stuffed bunny still in her lap.

This is dumb. Getting attached to the pretty face was dumb.

He walks past Hyunjin with barely a nod, propping himself up on the table, swinging one foot off the ground― the definition of cool. There’s a nervous energy that buzzes off of him however that softens the initial impression.

“Hey, you,” he says, voice subdued under the weight of his guilt. Hyunjin has to straighten her back and lean over to see Heejin’s reaction past his annoyingly massive frame. She catches the puff of Heejin’s cheeks from her pout when she turns her head away from him.

“Don’t _‘hey, you’_ , me, Hansol. You were being a jerk.” The hand reaching towards Heejin flinches back, running through his hair instead.

“I’m really, really sorry. It was a hard week for me, but that’s not really an excuse. I’m sorry I was being cold.”

He tries again, hand reaching out to brush away a strand of Heejin’s hair. The other girl just turns away from him further, a new flush to her cheeks. She grabs a napkin from the table and dabs at her eyes. Her other hand grips his shirt loosely.

“How did you even find me?”

“You always get sweets here after your recording sessions; I thought I’d at least walk around before dropping by your dorm.” He runs his hand through her hair, pushing the strands behind her ear.

Hyunjin shifts a little in her seat, hearing the intimacy in both their voices and seeing the grip Heejin has on his shirt tighten. She holds the bunny closer at their affection. His offshoot lucky guess led to _this_ awkward situation.

Hyunjin watches Heejin look at Han _jerk_ with a half-hearted glare that melts away into something gentler at his apology.

“I’m still mad at you,” Heejin says, blowing her nose for a final time into her tissue.

“I know. But you know I only care about my girlfriend, right?”

_Oh gag me._ Hyunjin mimes gagging from behind him. She doesn’t mean for Heejin to catch the gesture, but she does so anyway, and gifts Hyunjin with a small and sly grin. Childishly, she claims it as her victory.

“C’mon, I’ll walk you home,” he says as he carefully scoops up the pile of used napkins, dumping them into the empty ice cream cup. “I’ll even buy you more dessert.”

“...You’re buying me churros on the way ba― HANSOL, LOOK OUT!”

Before that instance, a series of events born from perfectly tactless coordination occurred, and it had Hyunjin swearing up and down that _it wasn’t_ ~~_entirely_~~ _her fault, Ara!_

It played out as such in the following sequence:

  1. Hyunjin drops the rabbit from her lap accidentally, fist pumping to herself at Heejin’s smile... And accidentally kicking it away.
  2. Naturally, she slides out of her seat to pick it up, having to bend down and crouch over so she could try to grip at it with the costume that doesn’t have properly functioning fingers.
  3. Hyunjin finds out from the recording Ara took that, at the same time, Hansol hops down from the table. Cool Guy McGee is too entranced in whatever he’s saying to Heejin and starts walking backwards and talking to her at the same time.
  4. And like a scene from a B-rated comedy movie, he trips over the obnoxiously large cat that he somehow doesn’t see, and with a yelp, is sent right into the mall fountain.



―Hyunjin hears the belated scream of caution and feels Hansol’s leg and body colliding into her. Then a body slam into the water and the water crashing onto her back.

Hyunjin slowly drags herself up off the ground in the aftermath, costume uncomfortably burdened and damp. Heejin’s hands are covering her mouth, eyes wide, looking back and forth between Hansol, a metaphorical wet dog in the fountain, to a literal wet cat, pulling at the soaked parts of her costume.

Heejin starts laughing, and in the resounding silence as onlooking passerbys realize the scene before them, she just points a finger at Hansol and cackles until she’s doubling over, wheezing and breathless. She laughs even harder when she glances at Hansol, still looking dazed and lost, then to the mall guests, blinking owlishly at the travesty.

It’s… the most adorable thing Hyunjin’s ever seen or heard, and it’s the only thing that almost pierces through her horror when she realizes that she just knocked the pretty girl’s boyfriend into the mall fountain.

Oh my god.

She just knocked the pretty girl’s boyfriend into the fountain.

**Oh my god.**

This is it, she realizes with a fountain-water cold clarity, this is what Ara feels like on a daily basis. She has both paws on either side of the Whiskers head, looking up at the mall lights and praying to whatever deity up there for strength to help her through this humiliating experience.

_Abort, abort! I have to leave immediately._ She nearly slips on the fountain water when she tries taking a step back.

“Here let― let me help you,” Heejin wheezes, moving towards Hansol, stepping past the large puddles of water on the ground. He raises an arm up gratefully, but...

Heejin stops a good three feet away from the fountain, sinking down to the ground and picking something up. She spins away from Hansol with a neat twirl, leaving him spluttering and splashing at the water, and she walks back towards Hyunjin―

“This is yours, right?” Heejin holds out the magically unharmed bunny, and the roaring heat that colors Hyunjin’s face is unreal. Out of her peripheral she sees Hansol drag himself out of the fountain, soaked and defeated.

She waves her hands in front of her frantically, shaking her head and then rapidly making crosses with her arms.

_It’s not― I want you to have it. It was for you in the first place―_

Heejin’s brows furrow in befuddlement, before she gestures to Hyunjin again with the bunny.

Another cross of the arm and head shake of refusal from Hyunjin.

_Not mine._

Heejin mimics the gesture, and it has Hyunjin nodding this time, arms opening up and gesturing towards Heejin instead, then towards Hansol once he finally arrives at the duo.

_I want you to have it. To say sorry._

Heejin’s eyes light up, bright, sparkling, and brilliant, smiling so wide that it knocks the air right out of Hyunjin’s lungs. Hugging the rabbit close to her chest, she gestures to herself.

_Really???_

Hyunjin’s cheeks hurt at the force of her own smile when she nods vigorously.

_Yes!_

Another laugh bubbles out of Heejin. She bunny hops twice and does a little wriggle of excitement.

Hyunjin, baffled and endeared, does two little jumps of her own, and mimics the exact same wriggle that Heejin does. A playful glint enters the other girl’s eyes, then, and she does a different little dance. Hyunjin still copies her, trying so hard not to laugh so she doesn’t break character.

They go through several rounds of this, Hansol looking so lost as he watches them back and forth like a table tennis match. It’s only when Heejin does some strange arm movement, kind of like a weird ostrich dance, that Hyunjin stops, with the realization that _wow they really got in deep with that game of charades_. She’s breathless from exertion, and from something _else_ that makes her lightheaded and her stomach twist with pure giddiness.

She would blame it on poor ventilation but that would be lying and Whiskers isn’t a liar.

Heejin stops almost immediately when Whiskers does, a pink hue to her cheeks from their game but most definitely also embarrassment. She coughs, fixing a messy lock of hair behind her ear as she regains her composure.

Hansol clears his throat.

There’s a minor flash of annoyance on his face, but it loses its intensity when Hyunjin bows fast and furious towards him and Heejin. Heejin shoots him a look, and he sighs, wringing water out of his shirt.

“No, it’s my fault for not watching where I was going. It’s okay. I’m more annoyed at myself.”

“We should really get you home. You’re going to get sick like this.” Hyunjin’s elation dips a little bit when she sees Heejin doting at him, but the smile she has makes it all worth it, especially when she turns to Hyunjin and still wears it.

“I’m really sorry for all of this, and thank you for making me feel better,” Heejin purses her lips, trying not to laugh again when she glances at Hansol from the side. She fools absolutely no one, but Hyunjin’s a little afraid of the swooping in her stomach, and the sudden weightlessness of her costume.

“I guess you can say… ” Hansol’s shoulders sagging and Heejin’s mouth curling mischievously around her words are Hyunjin’s only warnings.

“It was kind of a _cat-astrophe_.”

It was in that precise moment that Hyunjin knew she was done for― the shitty pun escaping from Heejin’s lips that has Hansol groaning into his palms, but sends Heejin into another fit, laughing at her own joke _(who does that???)_. Her heart suddenly feels stuffed with the same stuff as the bunny that got her into this mess, filled to the brim and fit for bursting.

She can’t help but laugh in disbelief, heart and tongue already curling around a word that starts with a large and capital _L―_ before she cuts herself short with a gasp, hands coming up to cover her mouth.

Heejin’s brow raises but her million megawatt grin doesn’t lose its intensity.

“Don’t worry. I’ll keep this a secret for the children,” Heejin puts one finger to her lips and winks, and, her heart definitely bursts, makes her feel like Mr. Bunny 1.0’s arm. Hyunjin finds herself spiraling very, very fast.

“I’ll see you around, maybe, Whiskers!” Hyunjin barely has enough presence of mind to wave goodbye at the retreating couple, heart hurting and maybe a little scared of the girl that just walked away.

She stands for a good minute, just waving at the couple’s backs.

Her body runs on autopilot when she returns to the store, heart just a little denser than what it was minutes prior.

When she reaches the store, she finally discards the stuffy cat head, tossing it to the side carelessly. Dropping down dramatically onto the counter, she burrows her head into the mascot’s arm and screams. One of her hand curls into a fist and pounds lightly on the table.

“That was somehow the most mortifying and most heartwarming moment of my life,” she says, once she lifts her head up and looks at Ara. The older girl nods sagely.

“Yes, I agree.” Ara waves her phone in the air. “And I caught the entire thing on camera."

“Wait, what? Why did you― You caught it on camera? Isn’t that illegal? But can I see?” Hyunjin asks, perking up instantly. Ara rolls her eyes at the barrage of questions, but hands Hyunjin the phone.

“Just in case you did actually get arrested, I wanted to memorialize the occasion. But instead, I got something even funnier.”

Ara is mighty pleased for a person who only caught the action and didn’t participate in it, but Hyunjin will call her out on being a team slacker later.

Ara started filming ever since Hyunjin took two steps out the door. The weird gestures that she does on camera has her flushing again― she kind of wants to cover her eyes but seeing Heejin’s smile again, no matter how grainy or low quality it is, has Hyunjin smiling wide, too.

Ara on the recording is dead silent up until that point, making an interested noise in the back of her throat at his appearance. Then the boyfriend trips over Whiskers and the camera shakes with the force of Ara’s laughter, going out of focus completely as Ara struggles for air.

“Ara!” Hyunjin squawks, “keep the camera focused on the goddess!” The older girl doesn’t even hear her when she starts laughing at the incident all over again, throwing her head back and turning away from her phone.

The camera does go back to the trio right before Heejin picks up the bunny. Hyunjin finds herself smiling stupidly all over again, watching their dumb antics. Her smile is still in place even after the recording shuts off, warming her to the point where she forgets her costume is wet.

“Ew, don’t make that face,” Ara says, eyeing the other girl critically. But Hyunjin sees the quirk of her lips― Ara’s a big softie, after all.

“I think I fell in love. Like, in five minutes, I think I fell in love.”

“You two... are of a similar breed,” Ara acquiesces, taking her phone back from Hyunjin’s hands.

“Okay, so I don’t think it’s actually love, of course, because I barely know her,” Hyunjin starts to ramble, “but I’ve seen her in the bakery around the corner, and I guess I sometimes see her walking around when I’m in costume? And I just saw her crying and wanted to make her feel better, and also just talk to her because I was always too nervous to. And she’s the prettiest girl I’ve ever seen and I never thought she was such a big nerd? Like I didn’t think she’d play charades with me but she did and it was really freaking cute, and―”

“She goes to our university.”

“And she goes to our― wait, what?”

Ara nods. “Yeah. She’s actually kind of famous at our school for being such a young indie artist under BlockBerry Creative.”

“I… _what?_ ” Hyunjin whispers, fingers resting against her temples. “She goes to _our school_ ? And I’ve never _known?_ ”

Ara snorts. “I’m a little surprised you haven’t heard of her, but at the same time, you’re only ever thinking of basketball or bread, aren’t you?”

Hyunjin ignores her, pounding against the counter again and a fire filling her eyes when she turns to the other.

“I have to talk to her again, Ara. Preferably out of costume.”

A slow but genuinely demonic grin starts tugging at Ara’s lips. “I’ll support you as long as you get me more hilarious recordings.”

Hyunjin doesn’t even think about her response. “Done and done. Do you know where I can find her?”

“She hangs around the arts building a lot with her friends. Her _boyfriend_ and her really cute brunette friend in particular.” Ara enunciates the boyfriend part, but Hyunjin zeroes in on something else entirely.

“Her really cute brunette friend? Is there something you’d like to share with the class?”

Ara waves her hand dismissively. “Some other time, not today. She still does have a boyfriend though, are you going to do anything about him?”

Hyunjin frowns, heart tugging at the reminder. “I’m not going to break them up, if that’s what you’re asking. That’s really gross, and they seem happy.” Her heart tugs again. “And… she might be straight.”

“Could be bi?”

Hyunjin shrugs. “I don’t want to get my hopes up, and it’s not like it matters anyway when she already has someone.”

Ara makes a sympathetic noise, rubbing the top of Hyunjin’s head.

“I’m rooting for you, Whiskers.”

Hyunjin sighs. “Yeah. Me too.”

The hand rubbing her head suddenly tightens its grip.

“Now help me clean up the fucking stuffing, you brat.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> vivi needs a cigarette break tbh
> 
> tysm for reading!


	2. Yellow Cat

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> From this point on, I will be referring to Vivi as Kahei. I have already updated the first chapter with this change.
> 
> As always, thank you my beta readers, and especially K.Morpho, who was more than a major part in this chapter's completion.
> 
> EDIT: 9/2/18 - I lied. Every instance of Kahei changed to Ara. Last name change, I promise. Also realized my linebreaks were missing, so I added them in.

Flour is the backbone of food.

It’s truly a loaded statement, but Hyunjin’s had 18 or so odd years to come to this conclusion. Most every country in the world probably has some sort of flour based dish. Just flour and water alone could make pasta, soba, tortillas, and who knows how many other staple foods. But the most important food of all, of course―

―is _bread_.

To be specific, triple chocolate pumpkin bread: topped with a drizzle of sweet cacao syrup and a sprinkle of white chocolate shavings. It’s a culmination that could only be described as mouth-watering perfection.

Whiskers swallows at the crinkling of the wrapper being peeled back, already anticipating the first taste.

The woman across from her takes a bite. And once the delicious treat hits her palate, she hums a chocolate coated note of delight.

“This tastes _incredible_ ,” sounds the wide-eyed, stuffed cheek reaction from Heejin, free hand shooting a thumbs up at the mascot.

_Finally! A genuine connoisseur._

Whiskers, satisfied with the review, nods firmly with her own two thumbs up. She ignores the way her stomach growls.

Heejin fishes a coin from their to-go bag, flicking it into the fountain with a neat little ‘ping.’ Like always, Whiskers watches it sink to the bottom to rest along with the others before returning her interests to her lively companion.

It’s been almost a week and a half after the dunk-a-Hansol incident, and their strange song and dance has since been well-rehearsed and perfected. Not that it took them that long to learn its rhythm.

Once Heejin rounds the corner and takes a seat at a table, Hyunjin calls for a break from her manager. If she marches back with money clamped in between her paws― given to her by a gracious Ara, who fishes the bills out of Hyunjin’s wallet― they head off to the bakery. Regardless of whether they buy sweets or not, Heejin spares a couple of minutes of her time to talk to Whiskers about her day.

“Wuh fin’shed uhp r’cordin,” her words are still muffled until she remembers to swallow, “and the upperclassmen aren’t as fussy anymore after I showed them I could finish it.”

Heejin peels back the plastic wrapping some more with a little pout. “They still don’t like talking to me though.”

There are crumbs speckled on the corner of her lips. Whiskers pushes the napkins on the table towards her.

Heejin dabs at her mouth, careful not to smudge away her pink glitter lip gloss. “But I bumped into them the other day while I was heading to the science building with a friend, and you won’t believe what they did.”

Whiskers doesn’t flinch when Heejin’s hand dramatically meets the table.

“I would have been fine if they just kept on pretending that I didn’t exist. It shouldn’t have been a problem seeing as they already expend much more energy acknowledging the dust mites on the recording equipment than they do with me.”

_That must be some really dusty equipment. What kind of company can’t even afford Lysol wipes?_

“But when they saw me, those _sunbaes―“_ Heejin takes a vicious chomp of bread, “―tuhrned ‘n thehr heels uhnd stuhrted whulking in thu uhther direc’sun,” a low chuckle rumbles from her chest after she hastily gulps. “Obviously, I had to say hello. So I ran up to them, cornering them by calling their names. You should’ve seen it, Whiskers. The look on their faces! _Priceless!_ ”

It’s good that Heejin mentioned that, because Hyunjin remembers running by too fast to get to class to catch their expressions.

(Ara’s offhand advice had turned out to be more helpful than either of them expected. After going out of her way to modify her walking routine around the arts building, Hyunjin was genuinely prepared to play several rounds of ‘Where’s Waldo’ trying to spot Heejin. Luckily, Heejin frequents the building enough that seeing her became more of a matter of patience or good timing than rarity.)

“Because my friend was there, I had the pleasure of introducing her to everyone else for 20 minutes straight.” Heejin nods twice, solemnly, “It’s a wonder how a bit of social pressure can push people into acting differently. That was the nicest they’ve ever been to me; I thought their faces would get stuck smiling.”

 _What a conniving little jerk._ Hyunjin can’t help but feel a swell of pride.

Heejin’s voice suddenly pitches two octaves higher, “‘Eh!? Heejin-ah! We didn’t see you there!’” She supplies the imitation with an over-exaggerated face of fake surprise. The facade holds only for a split second, before she’s laughing and trying not to choke at the same time.

Whiskers alternates punching the air with her paws to cheer for her friend. With a quick flourish, Heejin takes a curtsy.

“Also, something else really funny happened in my music class on Tuesday...”

Whiskers rests her chin in her arms, admiring the way Heejin excitedly launches into yet another story― crumbs flying as her hands arch through the air, pantomimed with the intrepid tale.

Heejin’s interrupted by her phone vibrating on the table. Her face lights up brighter than sunlight for a second until she resumes on the mascot.

“I gotta go,” Heejin says, smile dropping a couple of molars in apology, “Hansol wants to catch a movie with me today.”

_…_

_Ah. Yes, that’s right…_

_Hansol._

**_Lee Hansol._ **

Hyunjin feels something leave her as she flashes back to the nightmarish reality she’s experienced over the past week.

-

 _Hyunjin had it all planned out for how she’ll finally talk to Heejin outside of work. She’d practiced every suave greeting, compliment, and unmasking conjured up from dozing daydreams_ ― _cherry-picked the best contenders and humbly waited for the ripest of opportunities to just_ **_talk_ ** _to the other woman._

_To just walk up and say hello._

_Without being too freaky._

_Hyunjin took another deep breath, achieving a state of total zen._

_Yes, she had it all figured out. Down to the moment where she would bump into the girl, and drop her things. They’d both bend down to pick up all of her scattered worksheets, class notes, textbooks, and she would say something like ‘Oh, I didn’t know you were so pretty while I was in the mascot costume,’ or ‘Come by any Build-A-Bear’s recently?’ or…_

_Or she would somehow be ridden utterly speechless when she hears a voice that’s way deeper than Heejin’s_ ―

_“I didn’t see you there,” Hansol said, dropping to a knee to help her pick up her belongings._

_Hyunjin felt her insides harden, her mind go blank, her flow of zen transforming from a river into a stone. A quick glance to the left revealed Heejin on a phone call, barely blinking at the scene before turning back away._

_“It’s my fault,” Hyunjin said. It was impossible to control how stiff her entire body had become._

_And ew, oh my god, their hands touched when he handed her her things back._

_Hyunjin just barely bit back the grimace, shooting back up to her full height once everything was collected. She gave him a mechanical, creaking 90 degree bow; mumbling a barely audible ‘thank you’ as she staggered off._

_When she snuck a glimpse behind her, she saw Hansol reaching for Heejin’s hand. He looked terribly wistful, holding onto her and rubbing a thumb over her knuckles._

_She sighed and looked away._

_-_

_The following attempt, if it could even be considered an attempt, was pure accident._

_There were a flock of birds at the scene, and Hyunjin was holding a bag full of croissants, thoroughly too creeped out by the pack of beady eyes following her that she hadn’t even noticed Heejin from a few dozen feet away, chatting with a woman in a lab coat._

_She had fed the birds a single piece of bread, breaking off a chunk from the one held in her mouth and tossing it towards the feathery masses._

_One of the birds Hyunjin should have sworn as a troublemaker immediately. The roughed up wing, the way it kept hopping and blinking at her. That evil glint in its eyes. It had decided that splitting bread between 20 or so odd birds would be too generous. Before the piece of croissant could even hit the ground, the bird took flight, snapping it out of the air, and zipping across the courtyard._

_Hyunjin had never seen more aggressive birds in her life. The rest of the flock gleamed, wingspans spreading wide and swooping after the thief._

_She watched in muted interest, then belated horror when the bird lost its grip on the bread and dropped it right in front of Heejin._

_Oh, the high pitched, wailing screams that could be heard throughout campus echoed through Seoul..._

_Before Hyunjin realized it, she’d dropped her bag of croissants, grabbing one as it fell. She lowered into a baseball pitching stance: cranked her arm back, raised her leg, and pitched the croissant nearly straight into Hansol’s face with a neat little screwball spin as he dove in to save his girlfriend._

_Hyunjin walked behind a tree and sank to her hands and knees._

_“Heejin, Heejin-ah, are you crying?” Hyunjin heard Hansol ask._

_There was a silence. A quiet, shivering sniffle._

_“N-No.”_

_And an adamant denial._

_-_

_Someone was running up from behind Hyunjin, tapping on her left shoulder. Before she could turn around, they were already in front of her, beaming down with a toothy grin._

_“Hey! Thank you for throwing me the bread the other day!” Hansol says. “I would have never gotten the pigeons off of my friend and girlfriend otherwise. I’m Hansol!” He stuck out a hand._

_“I’m― I’m Hyunjin.” He reached down and took her hand anyway when she failed to reciprocate._

_She kind of wanted to cry at the face of his naivete, unaware of the crime she’d committed against him. And she was still shaking his hand until someone threw an arm around her shoulder. Hyunjin stumbled forward with a yelp, almost losing her balance before the arm tugged her back._

_“Hyunjin-ah! We never see you anymore! Let’s go play basketball!” There was a familiar chorus of voices of the basketball club members now, pulling her in the opposite direction._

_-_

_Every time they’ve met, Hansol’s smile had never once faltered. In fact, it only seemed to bloom with each encounter. Hyunjin could always tell from the intonation of his voice alone, especially since she refuses to look at him._

-

_“Hyunjin-ssi! You play basketball!?”_

_-_

_“Hyunjin-ssi! I didn’t know you ate here!”_

_-_

_“Hyunjin-ssi! Hyunjin-ssi!”_

_Hyunjin leapt over a fence, breaking into an all out sprint at the sound of Hansol’s voice._

_“Hyunjin-ssi!!!”_

_-_

Hyunjin can’t really stop the involuntary twitch that runs through her at the slightest whisper of his name like a Pavlovian dog reflex.

It’s a relief that Heejin doesn’t catch the gesture, moreso focused on texting a confirmation for her date.

Hyunjin has nothing against the guy, honestly, but the guilt still resurfaces every time he so much as strays his eyes at her. And the amount of times Hyunjin has seen him around has done little to help with the trauma.

It’s alright in the end, Hyunjin supposes, because somehow, Hyunjin has become qualified as Heejin’s de facto therapy cat.

And even though she hasn’t been able to talk to her yet, Hyunjin enjoys the small snippets of life she’s able to experience when listening to Heejin relay her stories.

Hyunjin is satisfied with this.

_Being around you is enough._

“Okay, bye Whiskers!” Whiskers brings up both her palms. Heejin high fives her twice, before tilting Whiskers hands upwards, grabbing the rest of the coins and money from the to-go bakery bag and pressing them into Whiskers’ palms.

“Make a wish, or buy something nice.” With that and a wink, Heejin bounds off.

Hyunjin stares at her hands.

_-_

Hyunjin pushes in yet another 100 won coin into the self-checkout machine, a sharp metallic clang as it hits the bottom. As of present, the clanging is ingrained in Hyunjin’s subconscious; endless, with all the monotony of a metronome. There’s another sharp clank a beat after she slides in the next coin.

“You’re doing great, sweetie,” Ara says for the umpteenth time. Hyunjin’s grip on her hand tightens.

(Hyunjin has a brown bag full of change that she’s been collecting since the beginning of the school year. Coins that she’s meticulously hoarded from bread purchases, from vending machine change, from careless hands, from bursting pockets―

“I have a bag full of coins,” Hyunjin says to Ara after their work shift, a sound like crashing waves when she shakes the bag. “And today is the day I spend them all.” A blissful, ignorant fool.

They walk, practically run, to the nearest big-box store and grab every snack off the aisles; Ara is the happiest Hyunjin has ever seen her, taking dozens of pocky boxes off the shelves and shoving them inside the cart.

Their total came out to 175000 won.

Hyunjin slides in another coin.

85000 won to go.)

Hyunjin realizes the power of man’s hubris around the 10 minute mark, when they’ve ticked down the counter to 164000 won.

Hyunjin starts holding on to Ara’s hand at the 17 minute mark, after she makes one too many insinuations about heading back to grab just one last item.

“This is the modern equivalent of sitting under a waterfall,” Hyunjin muses, feeling Ara’s thumb sliding over the back of her knuckles in acknowledgement. It’s been 25 minutes.

36 minutes in, they hit a snag. The lull of the coins clacking together stops entirely when it spits back out the coin Hyunjin tried to insert in. Frowning, she tries again; the same issue occurs.

She tries again.

“Ara, how do you get the wrinkles out of a coin. Why isn’t this working?”

“Hyunjin… That’s a fucking euro.”

By the 45 minute mark the same employee has passed them 10 times. Every time he looks more and more confused, but more and more awed. A person who left before them applauded on the way out. Ara had laughed, bowing slightly to the elder. Hyunjin was too close to Nirvana to hear the applause.

How many lifetimes have passed, in this moment. How many gods have died and how many more have been reborn? Hyunjin’s certain that when this is all over, she will still hear the phantom, capitalistic whispers of coins reverberating in her eardrums.

And at the 65 minute mark she’s greeted with no fresh cold metal at her fingertips.

She freezes, breaking from Ara’s hand to yank open the bag, peering down into it.

It’s empty.

She whips her head back up to see the 400 won amount left on the mocking machine.

“You’ve gotta be kidding me,” Hyunjin whispers, voice hoarse with disbelief.

“Wow. A shakespearean level of tragedy,” Ara whispers in response.

“Quick, Ara, look for some change.” Hyunjin drops to her knees and searches around the machine for coins. She slaps at Ara’s ankle when the brunette doesn’t move. With a sigh, Ara lowers herself dutifully to the ground. She searches the other side of the machine, then makes a noise of surprise.

“Oh! I actually found one. Here.” Hyunjin rams her head against the counter in her rush to get back up, blinking back the stars in her eyes and ignoring the gasps of patrons at the resulting bang. The coin trades hands.

A 500 won coin. Hyunjin’s hands tremble.

The pyrrhic victory smells and tastes like metal, when Hyunjin slots the last coin into the machine. The machine spits back out the coin difference of change, and Hyunjin takes the receipt with as much dignity as she can muster.

They take their leave, sporting pairs of sunglasses they picked up arbitrarily on the way to the self-checkout session from hell. Each of them carry a few plastic bags, lugging everything they’ve bought down the streets. Hyunjin hums Heejin’s song under her breath, enjoying the chill night air.

“So why the impromptu shopping session?” Ara asks, once they’ve covered a good distance back to campus.

“You’re leaving soon! I wanted you to have snacks while on the trip.”

“Oh.” Ara’s face does something complicated. Exasperated and endeared all at the same time. “I’m leaving for a couple of days, not a month.”

“We can have some of these when you get back then,” Hyunjin acquises easily. Her stomach echos an agreement.

“ _Maybe_ we should head somewhere to eat now.”

“I really don’t think I should spend anything for the next year.”

“It’ll be my treat. I haven’t had the chance to check out the cute cafe that just opened up yet.”

“Oh, the one that’s right over there?”

“Yeah… I heard they had good― “ Ara stops talking entirely, pulling Hyunjin and herself aside.

“…Ara?”

The older women points at the lackluster, sad and dying shrubbery in front of the cafe.

There’s a woman in a strikingly white lab coat hiding in the bushes.

_…Uh, okay. Sure._

Ara points from the woman to the cafe window.

Heejin and Hansol were sitting inside the cafe.

The woman in the lab coat is watching Heejin and Hansol have a date through the window.

“Ara, I’m a little concerned.”

For some reason Ara suddenly looks like her birthday came around again.

“I’m going to sit down next to her,” she announces, looking both ways and jaywalking across the street. Hyunjin splutters, pivoting on her heels and haltingly catching up.

“Has your mom ever given you a pep talk that goes something like, ‘Don’t approach strange people lurking in bushes?’ There’s a couple of reasons that I can list off the top of my head as to why this is a bad idea.”

“Don’t worry, I know her.”

Hyunjin relaxes marginably, the bundle of hard tension rising in her shoulders loosening.

“Oh, good! Good. I’m glad you’re keeping good company around.“

Barely sparing a glance in Hyunjin’s direction, Ara shrugs. “I talk to you, don’t I?”

With that, Ara sinks to a crouch behind the woman. Hesitantly, Hyunjin flanks the lab coat’s other side.

“Riveting hobby you have here, Haseul,” Ara says.

The woman swivels around so she’s facing the both of them. Her pristine lab coat is off-colored at the very edges, stained with grass. A pair of warm, brown eyes blink in astonishment behind her large, circular spectacles, before a confused but cheerful grin takes hold.

“Oh! Hello, Ara. I like your glasses.”

Oh. Wait a minute.

Haseul absentmindedly brushes her brown hair away from her eyes.

… _Ohhhh._ The jigsaw puzzle pieces click into place.

Hyunjin appraises the situation in a new light, watching how Ara subtly shifts her body towards Haseul. When she pushes her sunglasses to the top of her head, her eyes are just as focused as the woman’s.

Fascinating. Almost as fascinating as how Haseul’s head jerks to Hyunjin the split second Ara moves to adjust her shades.

“I like your glasses too,” Haseul says quickly.

“Thank you. They’re matching,” Hyunjin fiddles with her neon yellow frames. “I also like your glasses, too.”

“Thank you. They help me see.” The streetlamp glints off her lenses when she adjusts them.

There’s an extended moment of comedic novelty where they all just stare at each other, the silence dragging by with metaphysical friction.

“This isn’t usually one of my hobbies,” Haseul clarifies at last, with a small, awkward laugh.

Ara asks, “Watching people through windows or hiding in shrubbery?”

“Both, if I can help it.” The joke falls several notes too flat and several beats too late. She coughs.

“My friends invited me to dinner after bombarding me with poorly hinted suggestions that I should take a break away from the lab. I arrived a little later than planned, so I’ve been trying to debate whether or not I want to join them.”

Hyunjin risks a peek. The couple’s food looks delicious, yet sadly forgotten. The palpable tension in the air in between the couple permeates even to the outside, an uncomfortable stink that takes a hold of Hyunjin’s breath and smothers it.

The once confident Hansol is nearly folded over the entire table, bending down to eye-level, guilt nestled like broken glass in between his shoulder blades.

He moves in closer.

Heejin pulls away.

She’s tucked inward, arms folded, legs crossed, back and shoulders pressed against the seat. Posture on the uncanny brink of nonchalance were it not for the muscles in her jaw pulled bowstring taut, her eyes fiercely dark of glossy obsidian baring into him from the opposing side.

Her pretty pink, pale lips part.

His entire body _reels_ from the force of his flinch, pulling away from her entirely.

It becomes too hard to watch.

“No. You really don’t want to get in between that,” Ara mutters. Hyunjin rips her eyes from the scene, exhaling shakily. Suddenly she could move again.

Heejin is _angry_.

“I agree,” Haseul says, eyeing the scene with a brief cringe and pulling out her phone. There’s no point in doing so, but she shrinks down lower in the bushes to hide herself. “I think they need a little breathing room.”

Her thumbs fly across the phone’s screen.

“We were looking for a place to eat, but saw you and some people we know at the cafe,” Ara starts.

Haseul pockets her phone, looking up to meet her acquaintances’ eyes. Hyunjin sees Heejin steal a glance down at the table and frown.

“If you’re hungry,” Ara continues, “why don’t you join us for dinner instead? It would be my treat.”

“I’m the one that still owes you,” Haseul glistens with amusement at her proposal, barely finishing the statement before Hyunjin’s stomach growls loudly again. “I know just the place.”

* * *

 

Haseul takes them just off campus, taking so many turns into unknown alleyways that she seems to have memorized like the back of her hand. Whether consciously or not, Haseul frequently double-checks to make sure that she doesn’t lose anyone in the midst of navigating her complicated route. Something about the older woman makes Hyunjin relax as she guides the two through with backward glances and candid touches.

The woman is also able to engage in soft, amicable background chatter that’s never disruptive, while knowing exactly when to let the curtains of silence down for company.

Hyunjin finds out in between the gaps that Jo Haseul is a third year like Ara, double majoring in mechanical engineering and biochemistry. She met Ara in a psychology class, and they helped each other struggle through terrible powerpoint lectures and even worse review sessions. Ara once ‘saved her life’ when she shared notes with Haseul while she was absent for a week.

Which explains the promised dinner.

And in return, Haseul finds out about their hour long coin adventure, laughing until she’s doubled over in the streets at their shared commentary of the event.

Hyunjin likes her.

As friendly as Hyunjin _can_ be, it’s still hard to instantly like people who approach her. Well, particularly when half of them are vying for her to join their sports team, and the other half are grubby-fingered children demanding for her to entertain them at their whim.

The way Haseul’s lab coat consistently billows behind her is also _very_ cool. Maybe that has something to do with it…?

Hyunjin tries to signal that she approves of Ara’s crush, and gets a soft thwack to her thighs with snack bags for the trouble.

Haseul makes another, final sharp turn, and ushers them into the most obscure restaurant Hyunjin’s ever stepped foot in.

She takes each girl by the arm, tugging them into a booth with a beaming smile aimed at one of the employees. He nearly drops the glass he’s holding at his enthusiasm to greet her back. Hyunjin spots the pink coloring his cheeks. _Oh dear, how would he ever compete with Ara?_

They drop their bags of snacks underneath the table. Haseul is about to sit across from a wall mirror before she reconsiders, and sits facing away from it. Ara ends up directly across from Haseul, with Hyunjin to her left. Hyunjin hides her smirk behind a cup of tea when Ara leans in closer than strictly necessary to ask Haseul for recommendations.

“The tonkotsu miso ramen is really good. I-I always choose it as my go-to.” Haseul stumbles just a tad over her words, tongue twisting with the other woman so close.

They order three bowls of tonkotsu ramen with little fuss, the man from earlier coming by to grab the menus off their table. Hyunjin listens to the acoustic guitar playing over head, helplessly drawn in by the way Haseul’s voice glides right along with the instrumentals when she speaks. From next to her, Ara looks just as immersed.

They’re interrupted by the waiter coming by with their food, placing bowls of steamy noodles and broth down in front of them.

Hyunjin digs in immediately, squealing when she burns her tongue in the process. Rolling her eyes, Ara is much more careful and blows on her noodles before taking a bite. Haseul is visibly amused by the duo’s antics as she thoroughly mixes the contents of her own bowl.

“Thanks for bringing us here,” Ara says.

“The ramen is really good,” Hyunjin tacks on, slurping up her noodles.

“Of course. I wanted to eat dinner with people today, but Heejin and Hansol… How familiar are you two with them?”

Hyunjin scrunches up her nose at the egg swimming in her soup, and passes it to Ara.

“Hyunjin and I are coworkers at the nearby Build-A-Bear,” Ara says after a beat. “Hyunjin is the yellow cat mascot.”

The spoon that was almost to Haseul’s lips hesitates momentarily. “I see.”

Ara intercepts Hyunjin’s chopsticks trying to take her fish cake from her bowl.

“Do you know anything about what Hansol and Heejin were arguing about in the cafe?” Hyunjin asks.

Haseul studies her reflection in the shiny broth before her chopsticks meets the bowl and scatters it.

“Well,” she starts slowly, “It could have been an accumulation of different variables leading up to the hostile encounter at the cafe, but the most notable element in the equation is undoubtedly Hansol hiding his military enlistment from Heejin for two months.” She takes a slurp before deciding to add a measure of uncertainty, “Give or take.”

Hyunjin blinks slowly.

“They argued because he hid his military enlistment,” Ara translates.

Thank God, someone speaks Haseul.

Hyunjin sucks in air through her teeth.

Haseul’s smile is a touch wryer around the edges. “I’ll be providing damage control with an angry Heejin and a moping Hansol later, I’m sure. But that asides.” Her eyes glance thoughtfully at Hyunjin. “I hope that… the cat is able to cheer Heejin up, whenever it sees her. It brightens up her day.”

Oh.

Hyunjin can’t help the mild flush that brightens up her cheeks, or her wobbly, elated smile. “She brightens up the cat’s day, too.”

Haseul smiles, and passes Hyunjin her fish cake.

For the rest of the meal Hyunjin is content to listen and only hop in the conversation when she could. Ara has her thigh against hers for the duration of dinner. She never really feels excluded from the conversation despite her quietness, and she appreciates the other two giving her room to think.

Besides, she wouldn’t want to interrupt when Ara and Haseul are trying to rekindle a familiar flame. Hyunjin eyes them over her cup of tea, taking a sip and savoring a tang that tastes too much like third-wheeling.

“Hey, I think I’m going to head back first. I have a lot of work and studying to do for some of my classes.”

Ara sets the menu back down on the table. “Are you going to be okay walking by yourself?”

If there’s one thing that Ara and Haseul have in common, it’s that they’re both very good at making people feel looked after and cared for.

Hyunjin shakes her head, touched. “Yeah, I think I’ll be fine. It was nice meeting you, Haseul. We’ll talk again soon?”

Haseul beams at Hyunjin.

“It was a pleasure to have you as well! I’d like to get to know you better the next time around.”

“Yeah! Let’s hang out sometime!”

Hyunjin bids her final farewells to the duo, before heading back down the winding path to the campus with the assistance of her smartphone gps.

And accusing her of purposefully forgetting the snacks at the table is preposterous. She would never do such a thing like lie about her workload so that Ara and Haseul could be alone, _or_ forget the snacks just so Ara and Haseul could spend a little more time together.

Ridiculous, if the cryptic text she wakes up to is any indication:

_“I’ll buy you bread for a straight week.”  
_

* * *

 

Heejin doesn’t actually come the next day.

The pain in her neck is a testament to Hyunjin’s disappointment. It’s born from just staring at the left corner of the mall and willing Heejin into existence, even after Heejin’s usual window of arrival comes and goes. Hyunjin sighs when her shift finally ends, walking back into the Build-A-Bear and dropping her helmet on the ground.

Rolling her shoulders does nothing to alleviate the tension in her neck. She’s resigned to the dull pain of failure as she helps Ara close up shop.

And as she squeezes Ara for the juicy details.

“Nothing much actually happened, Hyunjin. We just shared the drinks and she helped me carry everything home.” Ara sweeps away the remaining fluff and dumps it in the trash. But she wears her ‘Yes, I’m irritating you and enjoying it’ smile that she sometimes wears with overly entitled parents, and it’s maddening trying to figure out the meaning.

“What does ‘nothing much’ mean though? You told me you got her number!”

“Yeah, I did.” Her grin gets wider.

“Aaaaaaarrra,” Hyunjin whines. “I’m dying here. Feed the poor and desperate.”

Before Ara has the chance to say something else just as aggravating, she’s interrupted by a rapid succession of loud knocks against the window pane of the Build-A-Bear.

Hyunjin whirls to look at the window and back so fast it gives her whiplash.

“Hyun~jin-ssi~!” comes the muffled voice of someone Hyunjin knows unfortunately too well.

“What is _he_ doing here?” Hyunjin hisses, using her hand to block Hansol from her sight. Ara raises a brow when he waves in big motions from the window. She ignores Hyunjin’s question entirely.

“Woow, when did you two get so familiar?” Ara’s shit eating grin from earlier is back.

Hyunjin glares daggers. “Now is not the time. Why is he here?”

“In all honesty, he could have been looking for Heejin instead. He could have just seen you through the window or something.” Ara points out.

Hyunjin frowns. The knocks pick up again, more incessant.

“I think you should talk to him,” Ara says, resting her chin on the broom.

“Do I have to? I already feel so awkward when I run into him out of costume. Now that he knows I work here as Whiskers he’s going to be twice as―” She cuts herself off.

“Annoying?”

“ _Nice_.” She throws her hands up in the air.

“Oh, the travesty.” There’s an utter lack of inflection in Ara’s voice. “But my skull is throbbing. It makes recollecting last night’s dinner so much harder with the pain...”

Hyunjin walks away from Ara, already feeling a throb in her head of her own as she approaches the door. A rush of cool air leaks from inside the store when she peeks her head out through a gap only narrow enough for her face to greet her main source of cranial pain.

“Hello. We’re actually closing right now,” she says flatly.

He glides right over her statement. “Ahhh, Hyunjin-ssi! I didn’t know you worked here! Your uniform suits you a lot!”

She fights a losing battle against the grimace threatening to show on her face. “I… I’m still sorry.”

“I don’t know what you’re sorry for.” His smile doesn’t waver but there’s a new glint in his eyes.

Hyunjin hears Ara cough in the back.

“Anyway,” he says, snapping his fingers, “I know it’s late, but I need a favor.”

When there isn’t a verbal response, he continues, “Heekkie really likes the pink bunny Whiskers gave her. She keeps it on her bed, now. I was wondering if I could get some sort of friend for it.”

Carefully, she tries not to react to his pointed stare when he says ‘Whiskers.’ She opens the door wide enough for him to slip in.

“Are you looking for anything in particular?” Hyunjin asks. Hansol looks at the Whiskers mascot head, gaze lingering too long to be comfortable.

“I was thinking about a cat.”

Hyunjin moves to toss a stuffing-less cat towards Ara who catches it with ease. She motions for Hansol to come closer to the stuffing station, going through the same process she did with the pink bunny.

Ara grabs a heart from the container before glancing back at Hansol.

“Kiss the heart to give the cat a heartbeat.”

He kisses the heart, handing it back to Ara with a gentle care.

Ara sews up the back of the cat, handing it to Hansol. Though the cat is dwarfed in his hands, he treats it as delicately as he can.

“That’ll be 13500 won.”

“Thank you, for this.” He looks from Ara to Hyunjin, while handing Ara the money. “I know it’s terrible when people come in just before or after closing time.”

“I…” Hyunjin tries to find the words. _Hope everything turns out okay? Hope she forgives you?_ She’s not sure if either are completely honest.

“I hope she likes the bunny’s new friend.” She finally settles on.

Hansol’s smile looks out of practice when he runs a thumb over the cat’s nose. “Yeah. Me too.” He physically shakes himself out of it. ”And Hyunjin!” He exclaims suddenly, enthusiastically hopping over to her, one hand pointed like a pistol and the other still cradling the cat.

She recoils at his unforeseen rise in volume and mood change. “Yes?”

“You should play basketball with me sometime~!”

“Absolutely not.”

He pouts. “But aren’t you sorry that you knocked me into the fountain? I was very cold.”

Hyunjin is horrified. “I― I’m so sorry.”

She glances desperately to Ara for help but she’s already escaped to the backroom with her mangas.

“I got a cold from the walk home after the fountain, too,” he continues right along. “I was soaked, and sneezing, and spluttering, and Heejin didn’t want to come near me anymore― “

“Okay! Okay,” Hyunjin says quickly, already knowing she would regret this. “Sometime, _sometime_ , but not today. Or tomorrow. And try not to talk to me for the rest of this week.”

_It’s a horrible promise._

He’s terribly delighted even with all of the conditions, and for someone who just guilt-tripped her into playing with him, the bags under his eyes lightening up for just a second when he laughs.

“I’m holding you to that. I’ve heard a lot of things about you so I’ve been wanting to know if I could beat you at basketball for a while now. If you win, then you can stop feeling guilty for something that was my mistake to begin with.”

Hyunjin shifts her weight from one foot to the other.

“And if you win?”

“I’ll come up with something by the time we have the game.”

“Fun,” she deadpans.

“The suspense is half the battle.” He spares a quick glance at his watch, grimacing when he notices the time. “But I really have to get going.” He bows slightly at Ara, and tosses a wave at Hyunjin.

“I’ll see you around, okay?”

“Not for another week. No.”

“Haha, for sure.”

And with a final wave, he leaves the shop with a yellow cat in hand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> we're going viseul!
> 
> i apologize for the big delay in between chapters, this chapter was much more difficult than i originally envisioned
> 
> but otherwise, thank you so much for the overwhelming support, i was blown away by the amount of kudos/upvotes/comments this fic got. I genuinely wasn't expecting it! and the support was a huge part in my motivation to keep struggling on this chapter! so thank you again!


	3. Green Dove

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy (late TT-TT) birthday to matchasn0w/BlueKimchi!!! They have my uwus, all of them. Read their fics and send them love.
> 
> As always, thank you K.Morpho for betta (hehe) reading this chapter. A huge thank you to my other beta readers as well. 
> 
> Vivi's name has been changed to Ara. I really apologize for the confusion, but I personally no longer feel comfortable using Kahei.  
> EDIT: After several comments regarding Kahei -> Ara name change, it was mentioned on twitter how she might be uncomfortable with fans using the name 'Kahei' to refer to her. The Loona girl's have officially given her the name Ara, and I figure it is best to use it.
> 
> This is hands down, absolutely my favorite chapter of the bunch. This chapter makes me ridiculously happy. I hope you all enjoy it as much as I do.
> 
> (PS: Be sure to read the Author Notes at the bottom after this chapter. >:3)

_Arpeggiated synths accompanied by a simple 80’s kick drum plays in a constant low volume from above. The diner is lined with triangular patterns along the walls, bright colors seemingly more muted and pastel. And the world buzzes around the edges with a grainy film static._

_Haseul adjusts the bandana around her hair, attempting to make do without a mirror. Despite the low, hushed ambience of people around her, a single glance would reveal no one seated in the nearby tables._

_Ara sips from her glass of water. The strap of her overalls falling loosely off her shoulders. Haseul tracks the movement as she speaks._

_“That’s essentially how my winter break went,” she says, “just spent some time at a science facility in Iceland. The auroras were so beautiful that it made me forget I was cold. I’d love to go back given the chance.”_

_Ara hums, mulling over the woman’s words._

_“And you? Did you do anything exciting?”_

_“Not really. I spent it working,” Ara admits, stirring her drink. “I took an online class over the winter to get my final math credits out of the way. But I’m planning on visiting Hong Kong soon.”_

_Haseul frowns. “Is something going on? Is everything okay?”_

_“Oh, it’s fine; it’s supposed to be a secret. I’m flying back to give my mom a surprise birthday present.”_

_“What is it?”_

_Ara absentmindedly pulls the strap of her overalls back up, pushing herself on the table. “Me!”_

_Haseul’s fingers reach up to fix her bandana again. “Ahh, she would love it, I’m sure,” she says carefully, “you should tell me how it goes if you want to keep in touch?”_

_Haseul wonders if the offer was a bad idea, too forward for classmates meeting by whim. She catalogues the minute part of Ara’s lips, her eyes widening a fraction in surprise._

_Then she’s smiling, a teasing quirk to her lips. “I think I’ll take you up on that offer. Hand me your phone.”_

_Haseul slides the device across the table after unlocking it._

_“But enough about me.” Ara quickly taps and slides the phone back across the table. Haseul looks at the green and pink heart besides Ara’s name and flushes, repocketing her phone. “What have you been working on?”_

_Haseul’s insides squirm, faint pre-presentation anxieties._

_“Ah, well. It’s― I’ve just finished a sixth prototype, but I’m still in the process of fine-tuning some of the safety implementations.”_

_Ara’s brow raises. “Intriguing. Do spill.”_

_“It was more simplistic than I thought it would be. The hardest part was― “ Haseul’s attention snaps away from Ara to outside the diner. Someone’s pounding on the window._

_“That sounds complex to me.” Ara continues, like Haseul had finished the sentence anyways._

_“It was a handful of trial and errors,” Haseul says, not missing a beat in conversation. “But it was all worthwhile otherwise, once I got inspired by―”_

_The knocking turns more volatile against the glass. No one is on the other side._

_"―all of the pieces started coming together.”_

_Ara’s gaze burns right through her._

_“You don’t have to hide it.”_

_Haseul stiffens._

_“I’m not sure what you mean,” she says, hands reaching for the bandana for the nth time. She finally exhales quietly, tugging the bandana out of her hair entirely._

_Haseul pulls the cloth over her eyes._

_In between one blink and the next, the world is dressed to the nines in monochrome, muted colors wiped from the diner entirely. Ara’s overalls are replaced by a flowing white dress. Haseul’s sweater for a fine suit as black as night._

_Ara’s concerned look doesn’t change, even as her eyes roll. An ivory cat unspools itself from her dress, forming out of the waves of rich garment, curling up on the table to the side. It falls asleep to the smooth jazz floating above._

_“You really don’t have to sell yourself short, Haseul,” she says, determined. “Everything you’ve built, everything you’ve accomplished has always been impressive._ **_Anyone_ ** _could see the amount of work and passion you dedicate to your projects; it’s okay to show that off, to talk about it, and be prideful about them. Don’t just brush off your achievements.”_

_She leans forward, “Tell people, or at least tell me, that you sweat blood, time, and effort into your work,” and smirks._

_“Then lowkey flaunt it.”_

_There’s a new lump trapped in her throat. The door of the diner bursts open but Haseul can’t take her eyes off of the other woman._

_Ara softens, blissfully unaware of the young girl in the tadpole onesie marching towards them. Her hand reaches towards Haseul. She brushes back Haseul’s blonde, short hair and tucks a white feather behind her ears._

_“Let me in.”_

_The usual boyish waiter materializes beside the girls’ table, placing a plate with two red apples colored by an eerie glow before shyly vanishing into the back._

_“After you?”_

_Haseul shakes her head firmly with a practiced smile. “I don’t like apples.”_

_Ara considers this and bites into her fruit._

_Then she disappears._

 

_“UNNIE, IF YOU DON’T. WAKE. UP!!”_

 

_Haseul stares at the spot where Ara was, then back to the girl looping through the motions of bursting through the diner and screaming at her. The glass of water that Ara leaves behind gains a crack from the sheer volume alone._

_Haseul stares at the cup in bemusement as the diner gains the same crystal-shaped fractures._

 

_“UNNIE, IF YOU DON’T WAKE UP, I’M GOING TO SHOOT YOU!!”_

 

 _And the facade_ s _h_ a _t_ t _e r_ s l _ik_ e the glass.

 

Haseul rises from her grave of feathery, pillowy down and nest of blankets, her mind lagging to sort out which parts of the dream actually happened and which parts didn’t.

She doesn’t know what she looks like, but she can hazard a guess from the way Yeojin’s standing in a T-pose, eyebrows furrowed up in fear.

“You… you actually got up.” Haseul’s eye twitches at the accusatory finger Yeojin points at her. “Who― Who are you? Are you a mirror doppleganger? My _real_ sister would never wake up this early― **OOF!** ” Haseul nails her in the face with a pillow.

“Get _out_ of my room. I need to get ready for my guests.”

Haseul’s phone buzzes face-down where her pillow used to be. Yeojin blinks owlishly.

“Who?”

* * *

 “Ok but what’s the project that Haseul’s so hyped about?” Hyunjin asks, tailing after the woman who has her eyes glued to the phone. Ara stops abruptly, squinting at her screen before replying.

“I’ll let you see it for yourself.”

She takes a sharp left and forges on, Hyunjin right at her heels. It’s a good day; bright, sunny, not a cloud in the sky. Sunshine beams down all over Seoul, just bordering on the edge of too warm.

Hyunjin adjusts the rim of her black sunhat. “You don’t even have a hint for me? Not one clue?”

Ara pauses.

“Whooooooosh,” she says solemnly, fingers wiggling in Hyunjin's direction.

Hyunjin’s caught between startled laughter and making a face at Ara’s back.

“Thank you, Ara, for being as unhelpful as always.”

“It’s something I’ve perfected through repeated encounters with you.”

The quip is the final nail in the coffin. Hyunjin’s pace falters momentarily, the grin on her face already in full bloom. Ara, the perfect definition of subtle, increases her strides to avoid whatever Hyunjin’s about to spout out.

“You have it _so_ bad. I mean, waking up early? Being adorably and suspiciously more ambiguous than usual? Matching with me _again_?” Hyunjin nudges the rim of Ara’s own black cap. “Unprecedented.”

Hyunjin thinks Ara rolls her eyes; she feels the force of it more than anything. “Astute observations; I’m genuinely impressed.”

“Seriously, though. You really like her a lot.”

“Says you, Ms. ‘I Write Love Letters Every Day In My Free Time’.”

Hyunjin splutters. “Those are _not_ what those are and you know it.”

Ara pockets her phone. A wayward, backward glance must have revealed something of worth in the other woman’s puppy eyes. Hyunjin sees the gears turning inside her head as she mulls over what to say.

“I think Haseul is charming,” she admits slowly, allowing Hyunjin to hook an arm around hers. “For all of her intelligence she’s actually quite humble. She just can’t help it when she’s excited about something. Honestly, it’s cute when she catches herself and tries to apologize for it. I try to tell her to drop the filter every time.”

Hyunjin hums in thought, reaching down to join their hands.

“It’s nice being on the same page for once; I won’t deny that we both mutually find each other attractive.” Ara’s smile is honestly infectious. “All that’s left is seeing where it takes us.”

They slow to a stop in front of a pair of grandiose gates. Hyunjin stares at the fountain just behind the gate, then at the hou― _mansion_ that made all the other, basic, identical houses in the vicinity pale in comparison. Hyunjin closes her mouth with an audible clack of teeth.

“This is the place?”

“Yep.”

“Did she tell you she was, uh,” Hyunjin gestures with their joined hands to the fountain flocked with disturbingly Disney-esque doves, “rich, maybe?”

“Nope.” Ara stares in interest at the camera angled towards them on the brick wall of the gate, and at the big, fat orange frog sticker right underneath it saying, “Smile for the camera! >:3”

Hyunjin flashes a winning smile at the lens, tugging self-consciously at the drawstrings of her hoodie. “Are we underdressed? Maybe I should have brought a tie.”

Ara shakes her head. “Haseul’s never been one to care much for societal dress code. I doubt she’s going to start now.”

Hyunjin looks up at the sky, thinking back to the tiny, grass stained, hiding-in-bushes upperclassman.

“You’re probably right,” Hyunjin reluctantly admits. “So do we just… stand here, wave, and hope she sees us?”

Ara blinks slowly. “You can certainly try. Stand out here as long as you want. I did the easier thing and just texted her, though.”

Hyunjin makes another scrunched up expression even as Ara laughs, tugging her through the gates that just opened. Ara uses her free hand to ring the doorbell on the grand entrance of the mansion once they arrive at the double doors.

“You really like her, don’t you?” Hyunjin echoes the previous question, glancing at the woman who _she_ usually tugs along for a ride.

Ara genuinely grins, a rare and handsome thing, squeezing Hyunjin’s hand. “Yeah. Yeah, I do.”

The doors burst open, a disheveled Haseul revealed from inside. She’s still in her pajamas, basic sweatpants with their university’s t-shirt thrown over top. Her glasses are askew, and some kind of oil stains her eyebrow. Hyunjin stares, pursing her lips.

She’s a (really cute) mess. No wonder Ara is so taken by her.

Haseul smiles sheepishly, pushing up her glasses with the base of her palm and combing through her messy strands of hair.

“Hello! I like your hats. Come in, come in! Oh, you can hang your hats here. Did you have to wait for long? Are you hungry? Do you want water?”

The house is just as grandiose as its outside appearances. Hyunjin slips her shoes off, eyes roaming over every inch of the mansion. Endearingly enough, Ara thumbs at the stain on Haseul’s brow before she steps fully inside; Haseul looks good when her cheeks are dusted with rose pink.

They both politely decline the long wait, food, and drink invitation, opting instead to drink in the wealth of the scene.

There’s a chandelier hanging directly above the main entrance. Intricate oil paintings of still life studies decorate the walls, one depicting breathtaking greenery and borderless skies, and another of an archaic inspired architectural design. (Hyunjin squints closely. She sees a small _Lee H._ at the bottom right hand corner.) There are expensive looking vases with real plants _everywhere_. The wooden floors are waxed and polished to the point that Hyunjin can see her own reflection with astonishing clarity.

Two staircases lead upstairs; Hyunjin thinks she spies movement out of her peripheral near the railings, but when she turns toward the source she finds nothing.

“You guys can follow me downstairs.”

She takes them further into the house. Hyunjin glances over the every odd family picture, nudging Ara when she sees chubby-faced, younger Haseul.

Ara reaches for her phone again.

Haseul sweeps a glance back at both of them when she hears the tell-tale sound of a picture being taken. Hyunjin raises her hands in innocence. Ara grins.

“Do you mind?” Ara asks, even as she takes a picture of present-day Haseul for kicks. Haseul rolls her eyes good-naturedly, making a check-mark under her chin to pose.

_Cuuute?????_

“So what’s the project you’re working on?” Hyunjin asks, amused. Haseul’s expression shifts to mild surprise.

“Ara, you didn’t tell her?”

“I figured you would explain it best.”

That’s probably true, regardless of the fact that Hyunjin would only catch about three-fourths of it. At least she’s fluent in motor-mouth, after spending time with both Heejin for a few days and… well, herself for about 18 years.

Embarrassment worms its way onto Haseul’s face; she looks like she’s prepared to say something but Ara’s raised brow must have shut her down.

“Well, ah. I spent winter break studying abroad in Iceland, interning in the research facilities located there.” She flicks on a light switch, the staircase leading downwards suddenly illuminated.

“Before the break, I was dissatisfied with all of my project ideas; a creator’s block, if you will. I had hoped the change of scenery would inspire something, and maybe strike some creative nerve.”

Everything feels a little Alice in Wonderland-esque, Haseul’s soft, smooth voice leading them further down the rabbit hole.

“As it turned out, I wasn’t all that far from the truth.”

Hyunjin definitely feels like she enters a new plane entirely as soon as they reach the final step.

The first thing Hyunjin sees is a large schematic attached to the wall, blueprints for a… backpack? Of sorts. The room itself is a startling sharp contrast to the cleanliness of the floor above: oil slick stains areas of the floor black, crumpled pieces of paper strewn about, tools and various scrap metal decorate the ground in random heap piles. The wall is adorned with disfigured, lopsided backpacks. All of them have bizarre, metallic attachments to the side, though they’re all too badly damaged or dented to properly examine what they are.

Hyunjin feels goosebumps raise along her arms, unsure if it’s from the chill of the room or from the thrill of curiosity. Haseul tosses on a lab coat off the wall, looking thoughtful.

“Welcome to the Nerd Nest,” a somewhat husky voice calls from behind the Build-A-Bear pair.

Hyunjin has to tilt her head up to see a young girl standing on the stairs, consequently towering over everyone else in the room. Decked out in a frog onesie and two space buns, she sips from a drinking yogurt brand Hyunjin hasn’t had since she was in elementary school.

“Ignore her, she’s my sister,” Haseul calls out, rummaging through a large container lying besides her workbench. Her desk has several stacks of paper airplanes and origami cranes, along with miscellaneous sizes of metal tubes. One of them hits the ground with a harsh and reverberating clang. “I promised her she can see this first test.”

“Im Yeojin, step-sibling.” Yeojin offers a quick but true bow, handing the duo two identical yogurt bottles pulled from her pockets. “Have a drink, Ara-unnie, Hyunjin-unnie.”

Hyunjin doesn’t remember introducing herself or ever becoming so familiar with the younger girl, but accepts the drink that’s shoved into her hands, anyways.

“Why do you call it the Nerd Nest?” Ara asks, bemused.

Yeojin throws her head back and cackles. “Ohohohoho! Cause she hates birds.”

Hyunjin nearly chokes on her drink.

“Where’s my drink?” Haseul whines.

“Get it yourself,” Yeojin says bluntly. Then takes an obnoxiously large swig from the beverage in her hand.

_Incredible._

“While in Iceland,” Haseul clears her throat loudly, “We found the remains of an airplane crash site― you guys can come in, just watch your step― (Hyunjin just barely pulls Ara before she slipped and died from an oil slick) but after climbing aboard, I got an idea.”

The trio crowd huddle carefully around Haseul like baby ducks, peering over her shoulder to look at her handiwork. Haseul looms over a 3D replica of the schematic against the wall, pouring a liquid much colder than ice into the invention.

“I examined the remaining parts left from the crash site, and admittedly, a rather childish dream returned to me.” A nervous, bubbling chuckle. “The jet engines on the plane were damaged beyond repair, but there was still some fuel remaining that I siphoned off from it.”

Hyunjin’s brows shoot towards her hairline and never come back down.

“Wait, you _stole_ jet engine fuel?” Hyunjin asks.

“I― well. I don’t think anyone was going to use it otherwise.”

“She has a history of stealing our parents’ stuff too,” Yeojin whispers, “Our treehouse outside is permanently charred. It’s never going to grow leaves again.”

“Yeojin-ah,” the elder’s voice forebodingly flat. Her sister scrunches up her nose and sticks her tongue out from behind Ara, using her as a human Haseul deflector.

Whatever this verbal Tom and Jerry sibling dynamic is, Hyunjin is kind of living for it.

“Go on,” Ara says.

Haseul straps on her blue backpack with a grunt, fastening a harness that goes across her chest. It dwarfs her frame, making her look even tinier than she already is when she gestures to the side of the wall adorned with the backpack models. “It took more than a couple of prototypes to arrive to the latest version.”

“She made me play guinea pig every time,” Yeojin mutters under her breath.

“You were more than eager to be one,” Haseul counters easily. “I believe I finally have a rendition that works.”

“What is it?” The question poised at the tip of Hyunjin’s tongue since they entered the Nest finally finds its way out.

Haseul glances at Ara, and if Hyunjin had blinked she would have missed the way Ara nods almost imperceptibly.

“It’s always been a personal aspiration of mine to design a compact device, neither too bulky or cumbersome, that would allow for air and space travel by means of jet propulsion.”

Hyunjin takes a slow and tentative sip of her yogurt.

“So you… modified a backpack into a jetpack?” Hyunjin asks.

The blinding grin that Haseul dons is all the answer she needs.

“Basing the folds off of principles of origami, I was able to form a pattern of tiled parallelograms that would allow the contraption to collapse and unfurl with ease inside the backpack itself. Perfect for compacted storage! It was only a matter of finding materials whose durable, yet flexible properties could be toggled on the fly.”

Hyunjin’s mind feels like it’s folding in on itself just trying to understand the older woman.

Winter break was just _barely_ over a month ago. Haseul completed five, no― _six_ prototypes in the span of a _month_.

“...Oh my God. That’s― Haseul, that’s absolutely _friggin_ ’ incredible. _”_ Hyunjin has never been so floored by another person before, air caught up somewhere in her chest and throat from sheer and utter disbelief. Haseul rocks back on her heels, pushes up her glasses with the bottom of her palms, suddenly bashful but still grinning from the praise.

“Thank you, Hyunjin. I worked hard on it.”

“You know, I said the exact same thing,” Ara muses aloud.

Yeojin snorts, but there’s a new, cocky smirk that complements the unbridled satisfaction in her eyes. “More like jump-jet. Haseul-unnie’s too scared to jump maybe two feet off the ground.“

“Is it your job to be annoying?” The sheer force of Haseul’s fluttering excitement dilutes the insult entirely.

“No. Just a special talent I cultivate for these moments.”

“But, how― So how does it work?” Hyunjin trips over her own excitement, performing bunny hops in childlike glee.

“It's simple if you break it down actually,” Haseul admits, listing off items on her hands. “You just need a set of perfect-sized turbine engines to generate enough downward thrust to lift a human being, mm― a fuel tank, a battery, a steering and throttle mechanism for control, a custom-fit harness to keep yourself attached, and of course, the emergency safety components. I was going to test-run this today. Would you two… like to see?”

“Yes,” Ara says quickly, next to Hyunjin’s rapid fire nodding. Haseul laughs.

“The hardest part is containing it all effectively and ensuring it still functions. That includes a delicate balancing game between weight and power necessary for long-extended periods of flight, while keeping the engines from overheating. Let’s head outside!”

Suddenly the trio are tailing after Haseul in her homey, mint slippers back upstairs. How they don’t get stained with oil is a wonder in of itself. Hyunjin doubles back to grab their hats, faithfully plopping Ara’s back onto her head and donning hers.

“I’m still working out that last bit, although the liquid nitrogen coolant system should perform adequately. Oh, and this all comes tailored with a wireless helmet to monitor everything.”

Haseul picks up a modified motorcycle helmet off of the dinner table they pass. Yeojin takes the empty bottles of yogurt drinks before tossing them into the trash. “I did tailor this in mind to suit my own body dimensions but I think it’ll still work with you guys if you want to give it a shot. How much do you weigh?”

“I’m not sure, but we should be around the same weight?” Hyunjin offshoots.

Haseul hums, leading them through her mansion once again, but this time exiting through the back door.

She leads them into the backyard that’s a touch more modest than the house itself. With some bemusement, Hyunjin notes that the treehouse _does_ look incredibly battered, marks etched along the bark and sometimes chunks missing out of it entirely. A zipline stretches from the treehouse to the roof of the house. She tilts her head up further, brows furrowing when she notices the rolling storm clouds above.

“So―“

They all jump when a booming crack of thunder interrupts Haseul. A water droplet falls on the rim of Hyunjin’s hat, slides down and hits her palm.

Strange. The weather was fine earlier.

“Unnie, you really have the worst of luck,” Yeojin says plainly.

“Surprise showers,” Ara mutters, scrolling through the weather app on her phone. “That is so weird. Oh! And there’s an eclipse happening next week.”

The other three make various levels of semi-interested noises.

Haseul squirms her way into her helmet with a stern resolve. “This amount of rain shouldn’t be a deterrent. Uhm, you guys can move over there.” She points to a picnic table with an umbrella outside. “I don’t really want you guys getting sick from the rain. Test flights can always come another day, if you ever want to return.”

They all set off in their own directions, Haseul in a jog towards the treehouse. Ara looks between her and the lightning arcing through the clouds.

“Aw, my hair’s gonna fizz up,” Hyunjin groans, placing her hands on her head.

“You look like the grudge when that happens,” Ara agrees.

Hyunjin snorts, then puts out an arm and jerks her head in her best grudge impression.

Ara laughs, shoving her forward towards the picnic table. Yeojin stares at the duo unabashedly, procuring yet another yogurt from the depths of her pockets.

“So,” she says, sliding into a chair and kicking her feet onto the table. “Haseul-unnie already kind of likes you both. I don’t have any advice to share that wouldn’t be redundant.” She tries so hard to look casual that it rounds right back to glaringly obvious who she’s talking about the most.

Guess Hyunjin’s not the only one privy to the undercurrent of tension between Haseul and Ara.

“That’s good,” Ara says mildly, watching Haseul disappear inside.

“It is. No amount of advice would help you understand unnie’s blabbermouth, anyway; if you don’t get it by the first few times then you’re a lost cause.”

The patter of rain starts to hit the umbrella more frequently. Yeojin sips her drink thoughtfully.

“It’s good that you two met her. She’s been stressed over people lately.”

“Hansol and Heejin looked pretty stressful,” Hyunjin agrees.

Yeojin’s face fluctuates through a multitude of complicated emotions. She downs her drink and doesn’t respond.

The next time they see Haseul, she’s strapped onto the zipline. She tugs at the zipline several times when her feet are firmly planted on the ground, testing the slack of the rope. The rain is already starting to pour down harder; her helmet drips from the wetness and her clothes are already soaked.

She fiddles with the strap of the backpack.

Then―

The backpack unfurls from itself; paper thin slices of geometric shapes swelling from her back. Sleek, glistening metallic triangles unfold in the rain, wings of alloy expanding and angling downwards. Lightning seizes throughout the sky, alive and unrelenting. It reflects in fractures off her wings and all they see is blazing platinum.

Haseul pulls at a black extendable cord from the sides of the backpack, wrapping her hands around the handles.

She throws a jaunty thumbs up in their general direction. Hyunjin and Ara forget to respond entirely, and Yeojin only smugly waves. She settles herself into a crouch: Haseul, the immovable object holding up the unrelenting weight of the heavens.

Nothing could prepare Hyunjin for the loud, high pitched keening of the jet engines starting up. Pure propulsional energy emitting from the jetpack slams into the other three. They recoil from the brutal force, Hyunjin and Ara both trying to keep their hat accessories. Air visibly whooshes out in a mushroom cloud from behind Haseul, sending water droplets flying into a fine mist off the grass in waves.

Hyunjin pushes against the howling winds to move in closer when Haseul straightens her form, lab coat billowing wildly from behind her―

―And she lifts _straight up off the ground_.

Yeojin’s roars of victory are barely audible over the combined chorus of noise from thunder and jet engines.

Hyunjin, even Ara, joins in on the hollering when Haseul ascends: five feet, ten feet, rain hammering against her, flooding torrents nonetheless unable to keep her down.

Haseul is stunning, dark gray clouds draped like a cloak around her body, and blinding lightning streaks jumping in halos around her head, looking like the picture of a demigod in the sky.

Ara seems to want to say she’s never seen anything more beautiful as the heavens claim Haseul for their own. The rain looks so, so cold, Hyunjin’s unable to stop shivering. But Haseul… Haseul looks _thriving_.

It’s no wonder they watch her fly until the clouds break for evening.

* * *

 For once, Hyunjin is left alone to close up shop.

Her coworker was out the door as soon as it was closing time, the ‘open’ sign still spinning to ‘closed’ before she left. Ara, who she’s barely had any shifts with, has been too busy preparing for her trip to take frequent shifts.

That’s the excuse at least. Haseul unsurprisingly got sick after her flight, going into a sneezing fit the second she got inside. Knowing Ara’s fussiness, she’s most likely just camping out in Haseul’s front yard. Truth be told, Hyunjin’s all for her playing hooky if it helps her get closer with Haseul.

But it’s a different atmosphere being on her own, kind of like roaming the school hallways when no one’s around. A feeling like she’s not supposed to be here; a small, niggling doubt that something is missing, or wrong.

Spooky.

She dumps swept-up fluff into a garbage disposal before turning up the volume on her phone, letting Heejin’s chorus “Oh my god, yes!” blare through the Build-A-Bear until the whisper of doubt is hushed.

Luckily, there’s not a lot to clean up, just some minor sweeping and a bit of reorganization. She appraises the rest of the shop.

Yeah. Everything else could probably be left to the morning crew…?

Several lights flicker overhead.

Everything can definitely be left to the morning crew, Hyunjin decides, stuffing in her earphones as she picks up her belongings and strolls out the door.

The mall isn’t as vacant as it could be, which quells some of the liminal space vibes from the shop. She blends into the last, retiring night crowd, before splitting off back towards the campus.

The moon is gorgeous. Bright and huge and illuminating the entire city; if Hyunjin jumps a little higher she could graze the very bottom with her fingers.

_(Echoes of pages turning. Rough biros across leaves of paper. The porcelain grinds against itself until it shatters, quiet whispering panic, URGENT in her ears.)_

Hyunjin startles, hairs along her neck standing on end, yanking an earbud out to listen for the noise―

A garbage disposal rustles and bangs nearby. An ebony cat slinks out from behind it, moonlight painting white onto her silhouette. Bright yellow eyes blink slowly at Hyunjin in the dark. Her tail flicks towards her in a lazy invitation, before sliding into the shadows of an alleyway.

She follows the cat. As she’s done before. It reminds her of the time Haseul led them down a winding path, but without the warmth of her presence. Familiar buildings are unrecognizable and much more towering when cloaked in darkness and lit by moon.

The cat stays several paces ahead of Hyunjin, but the way she turns her head around occasionally betrays her seeming disinterest.

Hyunjin wishes she had her letters on her.

Shadows from buildings and street poles stretch endlessly, serving as a road-map outline honing on the cat. It gets harder to keep up however, even with the inky silhouettes guiding her way. The cat starts hopping from shadow to shadow, quickening its pace and no longer stopping to check behind. Hyunjin has to jog slightly to keep up, backtracking into different paths when she realizes she’s gone the wrong way. Several paces of distance extend to seemingly miles. Hyunjin sees the cat braced at the last fork in the road, eyes unblinking, flicking her tail for a final time before she turns the corner.

Hyunjin barrels forward, following but a shadow and a glimpse of hope, skidding to a stop to search for her and―  

The cat is gone.

Hyunjin’s slightly harsher breathing disrupts the silence when she heads further into the alleyway, glancing into every hidden corner for yellow eyes. She clings to a chain link fence with a hole in it, too small for her to fit through, and the fence too collossal to climb. She grimaces.

When she turns back around, she finds a bracelet resting perfectly at the center stage of a street lamp spotlight. Curious, she moves closer, holding it up to the light for closer inspection.

It’s made from multi-colored, floral patterned beads. A golden tag with a bright pink pom is attached to the bracelet. Although she finds it on the ground, it looks newly made and untouched.

She rubs the beads in between her hands absentmindedly as she reorients herself. The massive maze of towering buildings scale back down to normal size. Shadows no longer move to direct her or stretch on for infinity. And the moon is out of Hyunjin’s reach.

She resumes on her way back home, examining the bracelet in detail as she traces the engraved letters on the golden tag: _HYUNJIN._

Hyunjin is too preoccupied to watch where she’s walking. Of course it leads to her nearly ramming into strangers on the street, just barely stopping in time before an embarrassing collision.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I wasn’t watching where I was going.” She takes several steps back and bows without much thought.

In spite of that, when she tries to move past them, they stay blocking her path. She feels her lips settle into an instinctive, almost-frown, glancing up at the men towering over her.

They wear too casual grins, cheeks aflame, arms thrown over one another, and clothes reeking with the sour stench of alcohol. There’s nothing left to the imagination with how they reached such a state when a bar is just down the street.

Too tall. Drunk. And in her way.

“Excuse me,” she says. Tone kept carefully blank. Pretending not to hear them whisper to each other about her being the ‘prettiest girl in the year’ when a whole Heejin existed.

“You’re really pretty,” the one on the left steamrolls over her attempt at escape, “would you like to join us for a drink?“

“No. I have somewhere to be.” They perform an admittedly impressive feat of dexterity when they slide right to block her path, again. The street is only so big.

“We only want to be friends with you,” the right one on the cusp of slurring, “you should listen to upperclassmen when they invite you to places.”

“No, thank you. I really have to go.” Another dogged attempt to escape left is similarly blocked.

She exhales in frustration.

“Just one drink,” the left one practically begs. “One drink wouldn’t hurt― “

Hyunjin’s ears catch footsteps hitting the pavement behind her. A cool hand wraps loosely around her heated wrist. Hyunjin’s heart stills in her ribcage, glancing down at pink nails reflecting neon shop lights.

“Ahh, there you are!” Heejin’s eyes are flourished with white gold from moon and lamps. Everything about her shimmers in the dark. “We were supposed to meet up somewhere else, remember?”

Hyunjin couldn’t even respond or nod if she wanted to, struck immobile, like she’d been Medusa’d with too close eye contact with Heejin. She doesn’t have time to have even the smallest tinge of self-consciousness without a physical barrier (distance or mascot) between them.

Heejin slowly turns to stare at the men, who stiffen under her gaze. Hyunjin doesn’t know what the other woman’s face looks like; Heejin’s angled and positioned herself as a barrier in between the men and Hyunjin.

(“That’s Jeon Heejin. The most famous girl at our school,” they whisper, “We _don’t touch her_.”

Hyunjin feels the air drop a couple of degrees.)

But she does remember Hansol’s reaction at the diner. And she sees the way their grins and good-humor slide away from their faces like water on marble, slack postures straightening under her gaze.

“Leave us alone.” Her emotionless voice squeezes at the throat of a peaceful night.

The drunk men taste the choked, frigid air and sober up _fast._

Hyunjin probably doesn’t want to know what Heejin looks like, she rationalizes, watching the men mutter out apologies, and stumble back down the street. She doesn’t know how tense Heejin is until the other girl’s shoulders relax, releasing the hold on Hyunjin’s hand to run through her hair.

“They really couldn’t take no for an answer.” Heejin scowls at their backs. “That was… gross. You need to be more careful.”

Truthfully the encounter is already leaving Hyunjin’s memory. Her breath catches again when Heejin turns to her.

“Oh,” now fully studying her face, Heejin shifts on her feet, “I’ve seen you on campus.” Heejin is finally, finally _looking_ at her, past the mascot suit and not from a distance away. But there’s a noticeable, new tension in her body. Discomforted, Heejin steps away from Hyunjin and Hyunjin’s stomach drops.

“I’ve seen you around, too.” Hyunjin says hesitatingly. Understatement of the year, but she’s still scrambling through previous memories to find out why Heejin is suddenly so muted.

“Do you have a lot of classes at the arts building?”

It feels like fumbling through a conversational minefield. Hyunjin has no idea how to respond to the too casual non-sequitur, to avoid it blowing up in her face.

“Not really,” she settles on the truth. “I just loiter. I’m not in the art fields.”

“That’s a shame,” Heejin replies easily. “We have good architecture classes at our university. And great artists, too.”

Hyunjin _knows_ there’s something deeper that she’s missing, buried underneath the seemingly innocuous statement. But in her bubbling panic looking for a lifeline out, she ignores the signs, jumps for the bait, and hopes there isn’t a hook attached.

“I agree!” Hyunjin says, bouncing in place, stumbling to escape this conversation. “We have one of the best architecture studies in the country, and it really shows. The schematics around campus are stunning, especially the new art mural. I know it was designed by one of our own students, after one of his paintings was showcased―”

Hyunjin snaps her jaw shut, horrified when the glimmer in Heejin dims.

The gears groan and grind against each other as they’re forced into place. The only way Heejin ever sees her, the only time she _ever_ sees her is with…

_Oh no._

Heejin keeps her voice unnervingly steady. Marigold eyes. “A friend of yours?”

Hyunjin can’t look directly at her, biting down hard on her bottom lip. “I―no. No, I don’t know him. Not like that.”

Heejin tries heartbreakingly hard to hide herself as she confronts the breadth of her accusations, the reason why she had them at all.

“We’re… just,” Hyunjin tries, tries to ease the burden. “We’re just acquainted.”

“Acquainted, right.” Heejin repeats the word, bitter on her tongue. She nods slowly, shoulders slumped. “Right.”

The glimmer in her eyes is missing. Her personality is all _wrong._  Heejin is _never_ supposed to look this sad or down or defeated, and it’s kind of like, Hyunjin’s _job_ to make sure Heejin’s smiling.

She feels helpless.

“I’m sorry that happened, earlier; they really shouldn’t have tried to keep on talking to you.” Heejin rocks up to her tiptoes and back to her heels. A mere ghost of her bunny hops.  “I’ll, uhm. I’ll see you around. Stay safe,” she says. The window of opportunity slides shut.

Hyunjin’s heart hurdles back to life, thumping hard to make up for the beats it missed. Heejin starts to turn back towards the streets with a wave, shoulders pulled in.

This is the only opportunity she’s going to get to talk to Heejin, she realizes, heart lurching to her throat. There’s nothing here to interrupt her. No birds, no boyfriend, no stupid stuffy costume in the way. This is the only chance she’s _ever_ going to get.

_Maybe being around you like this just isn’t enough._

Her feet start moving before she’s conscious of it, sneakers pounding hard against pavement to run after Heejin.

Everything she’s rehearsed, polished to a spit-shine perfection has always worked! In theory. It was simple stuff, really, not jetpack science. Things just sort of… got in the way, sometimes.

So, really, she should have accounted for Heejin being that last unknown factor.

“Uhm!” Hyunjin says, eloquently. Her brain short-circuiting from how close they were.

Heejin’s brow twitches up minutely, glancing down at Hyunjin’s limp hand just barely holding onto her wrist.

“Did you need something… else?”

Words? _Words!?_

_In this situation!??!?!?_

“How, uh. How― you, have you visited any Build-A-Bears recently?”

“Uhhhh,” Heejin says. Okay, she looks a little suspicious and freaked out but she isn’t sad anymore and Hyunjin can save this.

“Because you look prettier without my face on.”

_Oh, oh my god. Oh my god._

Heejin’s suspicious face ratchets straight up to horrified, tugging herself quickly out of Hyunjin’s grip and shuffling down the alley. “Uhhhhhh??“

“WITHOUT MY HEAD ON,” Hyunjin rushes to correct, before she could make it farther down the street. She shuffles even faster. “WITHOUT― WITHOUT MY CAT HEAD ON."

Then she freezes, stock-still. And slowly turns back around.

Familiarity starts sparking in Heejin’s eyes, watching Hyunjin perform the embarrassing wave she does every time a kid passes by her. Hyunjin’s throat feels tight for a different reason entirely when hard tension haltingly eases out of Heejin’s shoulders, eyes dawning in slow recognition.

“...Whiskers?” Heejin asks, hushed.

_Yes?_

“I… ” Hyunjin swallows, “I actually go by Hyunjin when I’m not working.”

The air stills between them.

“You― you don’t,” Heejin clumsily grasps for words. “You’re not―”

“No,” Hyunjin supplies quickly, “it was never like that.” This time, there’s no sinking hurt in Heejin following the adamant denial.

And for once Hyunjin isn’t watching her leave, incapable of following after her. For once, Heejin starts walking back, closing the distance between them.

“We kept on running into each other,” Hyunjin rambles, “he found out about Whiskers looking for you. He’s― he’s nice. I think. He’s kind of okay.”

Heejin snorts around a disbelieving giggle, a sound that Hyunjin’s heard before many times. Suddenly it fills her with a bone-deep relief, knees going weak.

“You know,” Heejin says, right in front of Hyunjin. She carefully uncurls Hyunjin’s hand still in the pose and holds it in between her own, “I kind of thought you’d be just as awkward inside the costume and out.”

* * *

 “―It was embarrassing when they asked me to sign their albums, but I was also really flattered. And excited. People are actually _listening_ to my songs. Like I wanted to cry but I held it in.”

Heejin vibrates from her excitement. Whiskers starts vibrating at the same frequency from across the mall table.

“Bye, Whiskers!” A kid shouts at her after leaving the Build-A-Bear. Hyunjin curls her hand into a familiar wave. When she turns back to her partner, Heejin is performing the same wave with a smirk.

For someone in a mascot costume, Hyunjin thinks she does a good impression of rolling her eyes.

“So…” Heejin takes her fork and cuts into her cake. “Are you going to take off your suit? You are on break, right?”

Oh.

Some habits die hard. Hyunjin takes off her helmet, setting it down onto the table. Then she fiddles with the uniform zipper on the back,  pulling it down until her upper body is free.

“I forgot to mention last night,” Heejin drawls, twirling her fork. “But you have freakishly huge paws underneath the costume, too.”

Hyunjin looks down at her hands and makes a face at Heejin.

“Excuse you,” she says, swiping Heejin’s fork with her paws and taking a bite of the cake. “Maybe your paw― _hands_ are just really tiny.” Heejin rolls her eyes and takes the fork back.

“Anyway,” Hyunjin, hums, swallowing the cake. “You were saying?”

Heejin muses. “It’s nice that people aren’t afraid to approach me, anymore. Sometimes knowing that people have expectations, but not what they are or what they’ve heard about me is taxing.”

She waves vaguely. Hyunjin gets it, nodding in agreement. “It makes talking to people a little harder.”

Heejin looks relieved that she doesn’t have to explain. “You too?”

“Kind of? A lot of people ask me to sign up for sports clubs, but as of right now I’m only interested in the basketball one.” Heejin nods, like she knew this. Hyunjin tries to hide her delight. “I think some people in the club had some dissonance, comparing what they think they know about me to how I act.”

Hyunjin genuinely has a lot of fun subverting strangers expectations. The basketball captain looked like she regretted asking Hyunjin to join at all the first time she barked. Heejin’s shoulders shake with restrained laughter when Hyunjin relays the story back, wide smile hidden behind a hand.

“You’re one of a kind,” Heejin says in between her chuckles.

“I don’t think I ever had it as bad as you do, though.”

“It was kind of lonely,” she admits. “I’m lucky to have a couple of friends who didn’t really care about gossip.”

Hyunjin’s heart twinges.

Heejin rolls her eyes, and shoves a piece of cake into Hyunjin’s mouth. “Don’t look at me like that. I’m totally okay now, and people _are_ calming down about rumors and my music thing.”

Her ‘music thing’, she says. Completely blase. Like her EP isn’t rocketing up the Melon charts.

“I’m including you in the friend list, by the way,” Heejin says after a beat. Hyunjin’s heart hammers, though outwardly she scoffs. The cake’s sweet frosting lingers in her mouth.

“You better. Do you know how much effort I went through to even talk to you? You’re impossible.”

“Hmm, well. I have some ideas.” Heejin pretends to deliberate, hand coming under her chin. “Work a job at Build-A-Bear. Trip a full person into a fountain. Get caught in an alleyway. Am I missing anything?”

Hyunjin’s flashbacks run through her head like a movie montage.

“You have… _no_ idea.” She shudders.

“Oooh, you have me all curious. Now you gotta tell me.” A pause. “You really could have just taken off the helmet, though. I legitimately thought you didn’t want me to know who you were, or that you didn’t want to take off the costume.”

(The first time they met Hyunjin was still on shift, and taking off her helmet would have been a major no-no. Every other time she could have shed the outfit since she was on break. Her manager didn’t really care where she went during her breaks with the costume on; more publicity for the shop if she is seen walking around the mall.)

“I, I dunno. I thought it would be awkward or something if I just.” Hyunjin makes a wide sweeping gesture that somehow Heejin just gets. “I wanted to talk to you outside of this setting, I guess. I thought― I thought I would ruin it, if I took off the mask.” Her voice gets small. “I really wanted to be your friend.”

Heejin looks impossibly fond, soft in the cherry blossom sunset. “You’re an idiot.” She links their fingers together. “It doesn’t matter if you’re wearing the costume or not. Haven’t you heard? It’s what’s on the _inside_ that matters.” She nods sagely, her other hand over her heart.

Hyunjin’s bubbling laughter is a little wet, looking down at their joined hands. Everything about this situation is foreign. Heejin makes her feel like she’s stepped foot inside the mall for the first time in forever. Suddenly the colors of sunset sinking above the skylights, scattering light on the fountain water, are just as awe-inspiring as the first time she came here as a kid.

“Thank you, for your infinite wisdom, Heejin.”

A small, soft smirk. “I’ve been known to impress.”

Hyunjin clears her throat, squeezing Heejin’s hand slightly.

“So. Remember the day you were mobbed by birds?”

 

A pause.

 

“...N-no?”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been waiting to add the fantasy tag to this work for years. My goodness. It's taken a little bit.
> 
> I don't usually ask for comments, but for this chapter it would be nice to gauge reader reaction and interaction, haha. As much as I knew this was the direction I wanted to go, I also knew I would lose readers once the mascot AU turned sideways. It's lowkey false advertising. Comments would be very encouraging!
> 
> Shameless self-plug: I have a twitter and curiouscat under the same alias, if you guys ever want to talk to me about this fic. (Like legit, we, K.Morpho and I, have so much stuff planned for this fic. Green dove is literally Foreshadowing The Chapter. Tell us theories, ask us your questions! We would be so delighted.) Or hmu for anything else! I don't bite :D
> 
> If you're not into my personal tweets, but you are interested in any weird, spoilery subtweeting I do in regards to this project + future fics, follow @k_morpho on twitter- my partner in crime and creation. They're documenting all of my works and retweeting the important stuff, or random related, miscellaneous tweets. Check them out!
> 
> As always, thank you so, so much for reading.


	4. Orange Frog

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edit 1/12/19 - Corrected minor errors.

It feels like a fever dream, Hyunjin thinks, sitting inside the warm ferris wheel capsule across from Heejin, who is as real and vivid as the morning sun.

It’s just the two of them, dozens and dozens of feet in the air. They’re nearly at the apex of the ride, ground splayed out infinitely beneath them.

The moment borders on almost romantic.

...Except.

“YEOJIN, STOP SHAKING THE CART!!”

Haseul’s screeching pierces above the loud, metallic stomping from below.

“Today’s our anniversary,” Heejin exhales sharply, taking a vicious bite of her chocolate churro to bide her fumes.

“Ehehehehehe,” Yeojin giggles, before leaping again inside the cart.

Haseul yells something about putting her into time out and Ara laughs hard, one hand plugging her ear and the other unabashedly stealing pictures of the scene.

“We planned this date a month ago. I was hoping things would be different. It’s―”

“YEOJIN, IF YOU DON’T SIT DOWN―“

“―so irritating.”

“I see,” Hyunjin says.

Maybe, she thinks, this _is_ a fever dream.

_(Ara, Haseul, and Yeojin showed up at her dorm at beyond ungodly hours for a Saturday, knocking relentlessly at her door. Hyunjin had stumbled outside, nearly slamming the door into Yeojin’s nose._

_Hyunjin stared at them, with their matching visors, Yeojin’s terribly applied sunscreen and Ara’s stupid smug smirk through her own bloodshot, nightmare eyes. “Hey you,” she said dully._

_“Good morning,” Ara said in uncharacteristic exuberance. Rather than explaining, a sheepish Haseul handed Hyunjin her phone._

**_HANSOL:_ ** _seulie~! smnth just came up, so i cant make it in time to the amusement park with the goddess. can you make sure she’s not pouting :D?_

 **_HEEJIN:_ ** _haseul. hansol just bailed on me again, and im already inside the amusement park? Like can he have any worse timing??_

_“You wanna hit up an amusement park, Hyunjin?” Ara asked, once she saw Hyunjin’s face morph into a cringe. “I know you have nothing better to do since we were going to do that later together.”_

_“What does this have to do with me?”_

_“Everything,” Haseul finally speaks, a wicked glint in her eyes. “I need your help, Whiskers.”)_

This was awkward. Even for Whiskers. Hyunjin didn’t know how to handle this situation, it wasn’t like she could just suddenly jumpstart a round of charades; she had a voice now. “Did he say why he couldn’t come?” Hyunjin remembers to use it, ignoring the screams of ensuing chaos in the distance.

Heejin doesn’t respond, as if she wasn’t even there. The woman had been joking around earlier, trying to hypnotize everyone and herself into believing that she’s ok. But ever since they’ve entered the ride, upon Heejin’s request, she had been lost in her own world, barely even looking Hyunjin’s way.

Hyunjin tries to brush off the way seeing her discomfort stings. “I know I don’t have my cat head on, but you can tell Whiskers what you’re thinking.”

Heejin makes extended eye contact for the first time, a wry, complicated smile worn on her face.

“I’m sorry, Hyunjin,” she sighs. “Two of his best friends are in the hospital due to a car crash after the surprise party they threw for him last night. He’s waiting for the family to arrive, but they aren’t seriously hurt,” looking down at the phone in her hands, “He blames himself for it. I know it’s just him being _Hansol_ again but… ”

It takes her a moment to find the right words.

“I can’t blame him entirely. I can’t even begin to imagine what kind of pain he’s going through right now but… at the same time, I can’t be there for him. Not when I’m like this.”

Hyunjin frowns, glancing out at the bright and blue sky and at the distressed woman in front of her.

“That… sucks. But I can understand why you’re upset. Out of all days to miss, and this isn’t the first or second time he’s canceled on you.”

“It’s not even that that I’m upset about. We’ve talked about it recently. But it still feels like sometimes, he puts his friends before me because he can’t say no. And I know this situation is beyond that, but he promised he’d try to do better and that we’d spend as much time as we’ve got left together.”

Hyunjin frowns harder at the admission.

“I think it’s natural to feel hurt,” she says gently, reaching for Heejin’s hand. “He made a promise to you that he couldn’t keep.”

Hyunjin nods encouragingly when Heejin looks up from her phone back to her.

 **_HANSOL:_ ** _I know. <3 thank you for understanding, im sorry. Ill be there soon. wait for me? _

**_HEEJIN:_ ** _okay. i will. This isn’t over._

“This situation was simply out of our control.” Heejin looks like she almost winces saying it.

They’re at the top of the ferris wheel. Every other insignificant detail and sound fades away, until the only thing left is their bubble of intimate space.

Hyunjin takes note of the tiny things: the subtle rocking of the cart, the small and bitter smile Heejin wears. The nervous bounce of her own leg, and the color of Heejin’s lipstick ― a dull pink shade of disappointment. And the duo are so close that Hyunjin thinks if she leans any closer, closing the distance until they’re sharing the same air, the same secret, she could―

Hyunjin pulls away and swallows around her churro. “It’s ok to be a little selfish.” The sickeningly sweet chocolate sticks to the roof of her mouth. “We can still have fun at the amusement park,” she says. “We’re all already here, there’s no point in wasting daylight.”

Heejin’s smile melts away from the bitter thing she had before. “You’re not wrong.”

Hyunjin beams.

* * *

 

“Aren’t these things rigged?” Yeojin asks. All of them look up at the hammer strength test’s bell miles in the sky. In front of them, a man swings the hammer down. The marker shoots up to a humble 83 before sinking back down.

“Undoubtedly,” Haseul agrees, taking a piece of Ara’s comically huge, bubblegum pink cotton candy. “I’d imagine on less populated days the ratio of wins to losses increases.”

The man shakes his head towards his friends, and the tension out of his hands. He pretends to be wounded at their rising, prodding hoots and jeers.

Hyunjin glances at Heejin. Heejin still looks at the minimalistic game in bemusement, also making handsy-grabs at Ara’s candy, who indulges the party with an eye roll.

It’s a game driven by simple, basic, nitty-gritty human instinct: proving who’s the biggest top dog around.

(And also impressing the girl.)

Heejin tosses Hyunjin a knowing smirk. “Go get ‘em, tiger.”

“I think Whiskers is meant to be a house cat,” Hyunjin muses, handing the attendant coins she fished out of her pocket.

“You get three tries!” She says.

Hyunjin picks up the hammer, testing its weight in her hands, looking up at the bell like it’s a tower to scale and conquer.

She steps up to the front of the target. Like the faithful friends they are, the other four start hollering as soon as she steps up to the plate.

Hyunjin settles into a stance, putting the hammer behind her, and swings like there’s no tomorrow. With a loud ‘thwack!’ the marker climbs up to a 71 and slinks back down.

Hyunjin puffs out her cheeks.

“It’s not about strength,” Haseul suggests. “It’s about the carried momentum of the hammer and the precision of the hit. Make sure to strike directly on the spot of the target.”

“Put your back into it, Hyunjin-unnie!” Yeojin yells.

Hyunjin absorbs the new information, nodding slowly, rolling up the sleeves of her t-shirt. It’s totally unnecessary, but it makes her feel cooler. And shows off her guns.

She settles into a different stance, like an inebriated, baseball batting-giraffe, aligning herself with the target. She heaves the hammer up once again, drawing a squiggling ellipse with the heavy end over her body.

On the second try, she slams it down and hits home. The barely visible lights all _blink blinkblink_ on as the marker sails straight up to ring the bell. A mechanical voice spits out a ’WINNER!’ as tacky carnival music plays under it.

Hyunjin holds a hand next to her ears to listen to the applause and cheers of the other four.

The high school student who tried before stares at his hands, aghast.

“Congratulations!” The attendant says cheerfully. “Pick out your prize!”

“Your customer service voice is very nice,” Ara compliments, finally just ceding the pink cotton candy she bought to the other three.

“Oh thank you,” The attendant says, bemused, but she smiles a touch brighter.

Hyunjin browses the prize selection, furtively glancing back at Heejin only to lock into eye contact with Haseul instead, who had slid into view out of nowhere. A familiar glint in her eyes beckons her attention. “She’ll like to carry this everyday.”

Hyunjin nods, grabbing the item Haseul’s pointing at: a rose pink backpack with a cute lamb attached to it.

She winks back at the scientist, and rejoins the group. She holds it out to Heejin, grin still blinding from the win.

“For you!”

Heejin’s gaze shifts from Hyunjin’s arms to her eyes. Hyunjin _thinks_ she sees pink in her cheeks?

Hyunjin squeals when unexpected― and _cold?―_ knuckles run underneath the sensitive area of her arms; her arms jerk back in surprise.

“Children, please.” Haseul is undoubtedly amused.

“Thanks Hyunjin~” Heejin sticks out her tongue and dashes off, giggling as she tugs the backpack on.

Hyunjin splutters, dashing off after her to their next great destination, the other three in tow right behind them.

“On second thought, it’d look cuter on me.” Haseul says.

“Ohhh," Yeojin remarks, "Are we finally getting rid of the bag of terror?”

Haseul glares daggers at her step-sister. “I’d rather we get rid of your invalid opinion. Red pandas are cute.”

“Not as cute as you, darling.” Ara’s lips teases into a grin.

“Y’all do this in public?”

The rest of the day is spent much the same; Hyunjin’s cheeks ache from smiling too wide.

 

There were endless roller coasters that made their heads spin:

_“The world… feels lighter,” Yeojin bemoans, clutching at her head. Ara groans in agreement. Funny since the two of them had thrown their hands in the air, whooping obnoxiously the entire time._

_“It was boring~” Hyunjin teased, head resting against Heejin’s shoulder._

_“You even closed your eyes at first, I’m going to call you Kim The Bluff~” Heejin has the audacity to laugh at her plight, still resting her own head against Hyunjin’s._

_“You’re taller than I thought you’d be?” Ara glances down at Yeojin. “I didn’t think you were tall enough to ride.”_

_Haseul, who was busy appreciating the architecture of the roller coaster, raises a brow. “I didn’t either.”_

_Yeojin smirks, striking a Sailor Moon-esque pose. “I have 3 insoles on.”_

 

There were scattered, and _rigged_ , arcade games that they still somehow beat:

_Haseul holds the rifle with careful professionalism. She takes in a breath and holds it._

_“Go, unnie, go! You get me that bubble gun!” Yeojin waves her newly acquired magic star wand around._

_Haseul fires._

_“OoOoOHHH!” Heejin, Hyunjin, and Yeojin cheer when she hits the moving ducks in three quick successions and the targets topple. She wastes a round of shots on the next perfect try for a slime toy._

_“You have really good aim,” Heejin observes. Hyunjin giggles, reaching out to sabotage the bubbles as Yeojin blows them._

_“I had a slingshot that I used a lot as a kid,” she explains, sheepishly adjusting the frames of her glasses._

_“Oh, Haseul, did you get it?” Ara comes back with the group’s requested ice cream._

_“Yeah, I got this too.” Haseul gestures for Ara to come closer. Then squishes the slime toy until it was bursting._

_Ara blanches, scrunching up her face. “Ew, what the fuck?”_

 

And there were _more_ various, arbitrary accessories and toys they picked up along the way:

_Heejin sticks out her tongue in concentration, picking up the stuffed orange frog plush by its foot in the claw machine._

_The other four gasp as a unit when it makes it into the correct slot._

_… But then it gets stuck. They all groan at the frog’s awkward positioning, stuck halfway in between falling down the slot. Heejin hangs her head in defeat._

_Yeojin, never one to be deterred, straightens her back. “I got this. Cover me, unnies.”_

_She takes off her shoes — oh, she is actually wearing insoles — and squeezes her way into the game from the opening slot._

_Like a well-oiled machine, Haseul quickly slides to the controls of the game and pretends to play. Heejin blocks the left side of the game from the nearby employee’s vision, and Ara and Hyunjin block the actual opening of the slot._

_They flinch when Yeojin makes particularly loud banging sounds that Haseul covers up by slamming her hand against the window._

_Several times._

_“Sorry, she… she’s going through some things.” Heejin says as the employee turns their way. He glances at them in a quick up and down and most likely figures it isn’t worth the effort._

_A hand inside finally grabs the toy, yoinking it down without a trace. A smattering of loud crashes later and Yeojin is out._

_“Look,” she says, holding the frog up next to her, grin still blinding despite her scuffed appearance, “it’s me.”_

_They make their dastardly escape._

_“You really like frogs, Yeojin.” Hyunjin revels. The two of course are the fastest to get away._

_Yeojin waves her hand vaguely, looking back at her step-sibling for a split second to make sure she’s not too close. She leans in playfully._

_“Not really, they’re gross irl. it’s kind of an inside joke with my friend,” Yeojin steals another hurried glance before whispering loudly into Hyunjin’s ear, “She’s supposed to be the bat.”_

* * *

 

It’s still only around 3 in the afternoon by the time their day starts winding down. Now they watch Heejin tackle the mini-golf course, who flawlessly earns holes in one on each level.

And with another swing, the ball sails in and out of the windmill; another hole in one earned.

“Witchcraft,” Yeojin states bluntly.

“You’re really good at this,” Ara observes.

Heejin smiles as she recollects her ball. “Thanks. It’s my family’s game of choice; I’ve played it since I was a kid. You guys wanna do anything else? I think I’m done here.”

Hyunjin shrugs, both hands occupied with two eco-bags stuffed to the brim with miscellaneous treasures collected from each of their adventures.

Yeojin vibrates.

“Mirror house, mirror house,” she chants, pumping her fists to the rhythm. Hyunjin joins in just for indulgence.

With a wary eye, Haseul regards the rest of the group. “I’m going to sit this one out, I’m not a fan of mirrors.”

Yeojin and Haseul exchange a look that Hyunjin can’t read.

Ara raises a brow when Haseul doesn’t elaborate further.

She sighs, defeated. “…Their properties can be… intimidating.”

Ara nods. “Alright, then. I’ll hang back for this one, too. We’ll be outside, kids.”

Hyunjin feels a small drop fall onto her head. She looks up instinctively. There’s not a cloud in the sky, but on her skin and body she feels the number of droplets increase.

They all look back to Haseul, unimpressed.

“I can’t control the weather!” she protests. Yeojin, Hyunjin, and Heejin still take a synchronized step back from her.

Ara rolls her eyes. She links hands with Haseul and begins tugging her away. Over her shoulder, she calls, “Never mind! We’ll be at the gift shop, when you’re done just meet us there.”

Yeojin nods, satisfied. “With the rain demon gone, it’s down to us to conquer the mirror maze. Let us set forth, unnies.” And with that, the trio set off on the path to the mirror house.

Her small legs set an impressive pace, the other two always a step behind her. Out of the corner of Hyunjin’s eye, she sees Heejin check her phone, one of the only few times she’s done so throughout the day.

Heejin’s face reveals nothing as she stows it away.

“I didn’t know Haseul was scared of mirrors.” Hyunjin says, hoping to create a distraction.

“She removed all of them from inside the house and won’t tell me _why_ -why. Maybe she just doesn’t want to look at herself.” Yeojin flippantly declares.

Hyunjin asks, “Are you two ok?”

“Ehehehe…” Yeojin stops writhing, grin weakening slightly. “Oh! Oh! There it is!”

The younger one bounds towards the maze in big, moon-gravity steps, landing and balancing on one foot before launching again. The corners of Heejin’s mouth twitch up watching the over-excited teen ― Hyunjin is quietly relieved.

It’s no wonder Yeojin arrives at the entrance before they do, bouncing in front of the mirror house attendant. From a few feet away Hyunjin can see the flashing, supersized Christmas lights attached to the arches of the mirror podiums. It’s dimmer in the afternoon sun, but further inside the maze laid a smattering of pinks, yellows, and greens.

“Ooh, check out these ones!”

Yeojin heads towards one of the first improper reflections. It’s distorted, elongating her neck. Heejin points at Hyunjin’s reflection and cackles; Hyunjin’s superior height stretched her chest into a pencil-length and left her legs as tree stumps.

“Am I pretty yet?” Heejin bats her eyelids in front of a mirror that widened her forehead to three times its usual size, the other two doubling over in laughter.

Yeojin wriggles like an upright worm in front of a mirror that gives her unnatural curves. It sets the trio off all over again, and it takes all of Hyunjin’s strength not to join Heejin from where she’s pressed up against the wall, keeling over with laughter.

“C’mon c’mon c’mon, let’s goooo!” Yeojin says, grabbing them both by the arms and tugging them into the maze.

Her haste is immediately halted when she rams face-first into her own reflection, her head recoiling back from the impact. Hyunjin barks out a laugh at how Yeojin looks like she’s blinking the circling, cartoon-ish stars out of her eyes. Heejin shoots Hyunjin a look even as she purses her lips in a valiant effort to keep from laughing.

“This foe is more formidable than I initially thought.” Yeojin eyes her reflection suspiciously, cradling her bruised ego and nose.

“Are you okay? That looked painful.” Heejin gingerly fusses over Yeojin, checking her over for any signs of injury.

“Slow down,” Hyunjin says, amused. “I swear the maze won’t be going anywhere.” Yeojin sticks her tongue out at her playfully when Heejin lets her go, but she keeps an arm out in front of her and takes slightly more cautious steps.

A few turns later and the light of day is snuffed out completely, and they’re bathed in unnatural neon lights, alternating colors every 10 or so odd seconds.

It casts a peculiar edge to the mirror house, their surrounding, crystalline reflections somehow familiar and completely unrecognizable when submerged in deep-sea reds and blues.

Heejin entertains herself with the domino-effect optical illusion, the expanse of reflections around them materializing like a visual echo.

The older two are content to let Yeojin take the lead ― a careful dogged, forward march in the cramped hallways.

The teen must’ve eventually felt bored in the short-lived quietude and began to chatter away. “Did you two notice Haseul and Ara today? I’ve never seen them so gross. Ugh. I hope they’re having fun though, before Ara leaves tomorrow.”

Heejin’s movements hiccup a bit. Hyunjin notes it and takes the moment to broach a certain topic that’s been on her mind.

“Yeah. They look really happy together. Speaking of your sister, she seems to really care about you,” she starts. When Yeojin stiffens and throws a glance backward, her reflections do the same.

The lights overhead switch to shining green.

“She’s a worrywart. I don’t think she realizes I’m not a kid anymore.” Hyunjin catches the grimace Yeojin wears on one of the mirrors when she turns back around.

Hesitating, she wonders if she should push the topic at all. “She seemed like she was trying…”

“If something between you two changed, trying to pretend nothing’s wrong only makes things worse.” Heejin says. Hyunjin’s head snaps towards her.

Yeojin grips her sleeve tighter, falling into the silence she had clearly wanted to avoid. However, it isn’t long before she decides to break it again. “I used to be able to talk to her about this stuff, but she isn’t as opened with me anymore and I don’t know…” Yeojin balloons her cheeks. “I guess I deserved it. But I’m tired of her shutting me out and not― not letting me _try_ to help.”

“She had been more stressed out when she came back from Iceland. And nowadays she barely lets me in on what she’s thinking or doing behind closed doors. Maybe it’s because she’s still mad at me… and that’s fine. But it’s _stupid_. Her explanations make sense… I feel like she’s still hiding something important from me.”

“So are you actually mad at Haseul?” Hyunjin questions.

“...Not really, I guess. I just want things back to normal,” Yeojin mutters, twisting a scowl at her reflections across from her. It’s an expression that looks unnatural on her face. “The only times she’d hidden things before were when she was trying to protect me… which is stupid because I should be able to decide that for myself. I don’t want to be left behind in the dark or be a weight that she thinks she has to carry. I think that’s why… I did something… to break Haseul’s expectations of me. And I don’t regret what I did. I’m not a child. And I understand the cost it took for her to acknowledge that.”

Hyunjin interjects, “Haseul might be dealing with other things so don’t take it all on yourself.”

“Sometimes people have secrets they can’t always talk about, even you, Yeojin.” Heejin says.

The lights catch on the mirrors in a startling pink hue.

“I’m glad she has Ara on her side to talk to then, since I’m not.”

Hyunjin reaches out to pat Yeojin on the back just as Heejin pulls the teen into a loose side hug. They stand in silence for a moment. Hyunjin searches for the right words, though her eyes are drawn to Heejin when she leans back against the glass ― she’s positioned in a corner that fractures her into three reflections, and all of them wear the same, pensive expression.

“It may be impossible to go back to normal,” Heejin says quietly.

Hyunjin feels Yeojin flinch underneath her hand; even she startles at Heejin’s sudden bluntness.

The singer exhales, leaning her head back against the glass, looking up at the ceiling.

“It’s up to you to accept these changes and move forward,” she says quietly. The statement hangs over them, walls lined in reflections and technicolor.

Swirling together, the lights metamorphose into a deep pulsating purple.

“Whatever you choose to do, I’m sure things will work out in the end if you put your heads together to reach a compromise.” Heejin turns to see Yeojin’s response, but both the younger girl and her taller companion are absorbed in something else.

“Look.” Yeojin points.

She pivots towards the direction of their gaze.

There is a faceless shadow, frozen at the end of the hallway from where they came from inside of the mirror.

Hyunjin moves forward, (she isn’t the only one that sees it) inching closer and closer, to meet the humanoid silhouette that appeared in a blanket of blue-green lighting, but before she could touch the cool surface of the mirror, (―or saw it?) the lights switch to a vibrant golden color, and the silhouette vanishes.

Cold.

No one says anything and the trio wordlessly resolve to find the exit.

As they leave, she spots a moth lost in the mirrors of lights.

* * *

 

They exit the mirror maze, dazed but no worse for wear. It’s darker than it should be, and when Hyunjin looks up the sun looks squished underneath the moon.

Huh.

“Can we go in again?” Yeojin whispers. Her eyes are wide from excitement.

“I think I’m starting to get Haseul’s mirror thing,” Heejin mutters. “That was so weird.”

Hyunjin laughs uneasily. She’s about to open her mouth to speak, when suddenly―

“Heejin!” Someone calls out, and all the outlines in Heejin’s shoulders stiffen. Hyunjin whirls backward, breath hitching and her previous elation immediately put out.

It’s Hansol, handsome in the receding sunlight, dressed too well for an amusement park visit. His arms are full of roses, chocolate ― and a familiar yellow cat that makes Hyunjin’s heart throb like a bruise.

He’s accompanied by Haseul and Ara, their expressions grim to contrast with Hansol’s apologetic, sweaty demeanor. They slide out from behind him, joining the other three at Heejin’s side. He manages a pained smile.

“Hey, you,” he says softly. “I’m… I’m so, so sorry.”

Hyunjin wants to reach out and sooth the trembling in Heejin’s frame, but it’s not her place.

Yeojin scowls and waves a fist at him. “Yeah, you better be! Do you have any idea what you put Heejin through, you jerk! Why I oughta―“

Haseul gently lays a hand on Yeojin’s head, and the rest of the threats pitter off into grumbling. Heejin’s posture relaxes for it, and she begins crossing the chasm in between her and Hansol.

“You are _very_ late,” she says, voice giving away nothing of her true feelings. She stops a few feet away from him, crossing her arms. “What happened to ‘soon’? I didn’t think you’d even show up since you didn’t say anything afterwards.”

He winces hard. “I was stuck talking to my friends’ families while they were in the hospital. I wanted to grab some things― “ he shuffles with his bundle of gifts, “― but there was traffic everywhere. Everything took so much longer than I expected it to and I'm― I’m really sorry.”

Heejin exhales. “Yeah, you _better_ be.” She still sounds quiet and distant, but she takes another step closer to him. How his eyes brighten almost physically hurts to look at.

Hyunjin feels Ara bump shoulders with her at her side.

Sugary relief and tangy disappointment swirls into one cotton candy mix of emotions. She has to swallow at the taste.

Hansol smiles, timidly. “I promise I’ll make it up to you,” he swears.

This is how things were always gonna turn out. She’s _glad_ they’ll work things out, Heejin deserves to be happy, but her heart just… needs a few days to get with the program. Maybe a little longer.

She leans against Ara’s side, and blames it on her feet aching.

“I don’t believe you.” Heejin says.

It’s not like Hyunjin was actually expecting anything…

 

―Wait, hold the phone.

Hyunjin scrambles upright.

The man shakes his head seriously. “I’d do anything for you, Heejin. Anything you want.”

“I wanted you with me,” she says wryly.

“Today was different.” Hansol’s brows knit together in perplexion. “I had to be there for my friends.”

“I didn’t mean today. It’s not _about_ just today,” Heejin insists. “What about all of the times before? Those were never as urgent, and they kept _happening_.”

“Then I’ll _change_ ,” Hansol says. “We― we’ll go out more. We could do whatever you want,” in a sudden burst of fear, he spouts, “I’ll take you out on more dates. We could go to the beach. We always talked about going. I’ll cancel everything and we’ll take the train there first thing tomorrow. If you don’t want that, we could stay at home and I’ll make you breakfast and lunch and dinner until you’re sick of it. We’ll go out to eat when you say that neither of us should cook. I’ll take you anywhere. I’ll spend as much time as possible with you before I leave...”

"...But you don't actually _mean_ any of that,” she finishes.

Hansol looks like he doesn’t know how to react to the turn of events. Even with his massive frame he looks small underneath Heejin’s unrelenting gaze. “I’ll do my best, Heejin. I don’t want to hurt you anymore.”

“It’s not about your intent, Hansol,” Heejin stresses. “I can't believe you. Because after all of this time together, you still haven't changed. Where are you when I need you? I always make myself available for you, regardless of my schedule. How would you feel if I didn’t? Used? Emotionally discarded? What _good_ are your promises if you keep breaking them?"

Hansol recoils as if he’s been slapped. Haseul recoils in something like second-hand hurt.

“Ooh, she went there,” Yeojin mutters.

“Are you worth my time? Or maybe I should just ditch you for _my_ friends.” Heejin says.

The moon has eclipsed the sun. They’re submerged in a black-blue sky, golden sunsets and sunrises all around.

“I never meant it to be like that. Next time,” Hansol says quietly. “Give me another chance, Heejin.”

“I don’t know if there will be a next time, Hansol. You get deployed in a couple of months. And I’m _tired_ of doubting you. Doubting myself. Doubting everything.”

Heejin takes a measured breath, calm in spite of everything. “I think we should take a break.”

Hyunjin has to look away from Hansol when she sees how his face just crumbles.

“She’s breaking up with him during an _eclipse_ ,” Hyunjin hisses, aghast to the others. “On their _anniversary.”_

Haseul grimaces. “Well, it was bound to happen.”

“She sure doesn’t take half-measures,” Ara mutters.

“Heejin, _please.”_

“I wanted to be a good girlfriend,” she says, with a touch of finality. “To be understanding and to care for you, and I still do but I can’t _be_ that person. It’s unfair to both of us. I love you, Hansol…but sometimes, it’s hard for me to even remember why it’s worth feeling this suffocated.”

Hansol makes a startled, choked and wounded noise; Hyunjin’s heart hurts for an entirely different reason, now.

Heejin opens her eyes, looks at him. Then sighs, crossing her arms.

“I think you should go home,” she says gently. “Take a break. Take a shower, get some sleep. I’ll see you around.”

The sun returns.

Heejin takes a couple of steps back, and then turns around to the group. Her eyes are completely dry. Hansol’s are not.

“Heejin, what about _us_?” He trembles.

“I don’t think I can make any more promises with you.”

Heejin smiles ruefully when she returns to the group. Hyunjin makes a noise in the back of her throat.

“I’m getting _all_ kinds of mixed signals here, unnie,” Yeojin says suspiciously. “What― What am I supposed to believe? Who _are_ you?”

Heejin rolls her eyes. “Have you ever heard the saying, do as I say and not as I do?”

Ara side eyes the two. “What the hell happened in the mirror house?”

“This was _not_ a part of the script,” Hyunjin says, still flustered and floundering in confusion.

Haseul looks at Hansol, still standing in the street, eyes flowing like a river. His armful of items suddenly look like they dwarf him. “I’ll take care of this, Heejin. You guys go on ahead.”

Ara shakes her head. “I’ll come with you.”

Yeojin squints at Hansol. “I want… his chocolates.”

Heejin looks to Hyunjin, brow raised.

Quick, Whiskers. What now?

“You wanted to go to the carousel?” Hyunjin blurts out.

* * *

 

Heejin was familiar with the path leading to the carousel, just as she was with the first morning ferris wheel.

She explained that the ride was an imitation of the Carousel De La Tour Eiffel, facsimiled from Paris.

(Heejin had mentioned that she wanted to go to Paris before. During one of their conversations after coming out of the mall bakery, both sharing a small bag of green tea biscuit choux. Hyunjin remembers it well because the woman had decided that evening that it was her favorite pasty from the store.

Hyunjin also remembers fleetingly how she had said that she’d love it if they could go together to Paris, to scout for the best French bakeries.)

“I’m a shitty person for being so selfish.”

The fiery warm glow of golden fairy lights paints Heejin’s soft features. She’s standing on the staircase leading to the second platform of the ride, a hand on the red handles, white heels on the third step, an upward cast as she stares into the paintings of the Eiffel tower on the interior of the roof.

“No, you’re not,” Hyunjin replies. “It’s okay.”

“Thank you, Hyunjin,” Heejin breathes. “But I’m not sure it is.”

Between the vertical spindles and intricately designed pillars, her flowy white dress, tucked in a teal blue collar, looks divine. She looks regal in the setting, like she’s where she belongs, but unsure about her purpose there. She takes a seat on a white mechanical stallion, Hyunjin taking the seat just behind her.

They start moving.

“We’ve known each other for longer than a year, and we’ve both grown up since we’ve met. A part of me meant it when I told him he hadn’t changed. But I think… the truth is, _I’m_ the one that changed.“

Hyunjin follows the up and down motion of the statued stallions, noting the details of the scene with the woman in front of her like it’s a portrait from afar. Heejin’s head rests against the pole of the horse with its grey mane, embellished with reigns of light blue, salmon pink, and fuzzy lilac accents and flower accessories. For the first time all day, she slips into a routine Hyunjin knows best as she speaks her worries free.

“I know this doesn’t make any sense. But I’m not quite exaggerating what I said. A year ago, Hansol and I had our first date here. We went on the same rides. And in a way, I’ve been backtracking, but I can’t remember the details or the feelings I shared with Hansol clearly. I’ve been trying all day, but now that I’m finally here, I can hardly remember why I loved him. I feel… lost. My memory is at best hazy.”

They go around and around. The never ending song the carousel plays infinitely looping like a white noise melody, nearly drowning out Heejin’s voice.

(This is it, no matter how fast they go, she couldn’t get any closer. The horses never go anywhere. Circular motion, on and on until forever. She looks at the expanse of Heejin’s back and feels like she’s chasing after a fairytale.)

“I can’t be who I used to be for him.”

“Don’t… stagnate, to be with someone else,” Hyunjin says quietly. “Don’t change for someone else, either. Relationships shouldn’t be like that.”

“I couldn’t stay. I’ve never seen him look so hurt. I didn’t want to hurt him.”

“I know. Sometimes we hurt people without meaning to… because we want different things. That’s okay. It’s life. And it’s up to us to accept those changes and move forward.”

Heejin looks backwards. The ride ends as soon as they join hands.

“Let’s go meet the others,” she says.

* * *

 

“He’ll be okay,” Haseul confirms, once they all meet up again. “Just a little roughed up.”

“He kind of. Ate his chocolate really fast. So I couldn’t get any,” Yeojin says. “Then he said he was going home.”

“I’m… glad.” Heejin nods, jerkily. “I think I’m going to call it a day.” Hyunjin squeezes her hand tighter.

Somber weighs over them like a plague.

Ara eyes the group. “Jesus. How about a quick group pic? We had a fun day, let’s end it on a good note.”

The others exchange a glance.

“Ara’s right,” Hyunjin says, shooting her a grateful smile. “How should we do this?”

“Get together, kids, I’ll take the pic.” Ara pulls out her phone. Yeojin, Haseul, and Heejin all bunch together, but Hyunjin frowns.

“I want you in the pic, too, Ara, since you’re leaving like, tomorrow,” she protests. “Hand me the phone?”

“I’m not enlisting for the army, Hyunjin,” Ara says, exasperated. “But here.”

Hyunjin flips the phone to selfie mode, stretching her arm out in front of her to get all the girls on the frame. Ara settles next to Haseul, resting her chin on the engineer’s shoulder. Haseul herself throwing up a peace sign. Yeojin hops up on her tiptoes, perking out her lips. And Heejin smiles from behind Hyunjin.

“Smile for the camera,” Yeojin says cheerfully.

Hyunjin takes the picture, immortalizing the memory.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> bettaowl: It's been a while. Check out our lipsoul fic. We released these chapters as a double-parter special. 
> 
> K_Morpho: Check out our ViSeul drabble, Paper Lungs, in our Playback one-shots!
> 
> Follow k_morpho and I on twitter, under the same handles.


	5. Rose Deer

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> K_Morpho: Sorry for the delays! Posting this on the whim after much trial and error.

_V._

_Here I remained, guilty for wishing upon the staggered stars.  
_ _Alone in this inkstone hollow, I called from my prison bars,_

 _From its twisted temporary space, waking to swallow_  
_my tremoring chords. There you listened, embracing. Chasing to follow  
_ _those weathering words. And waking, you quickened. You came._

 _Mistaking my voice for all the same_  
_whisperings in your ear; these unknown_  
_echoes carved into your mind, curved into your crown,  
_ _persisting— I fear were never mine to claim._

 _There I named you a fool. Though this story had already begun_  
_long before our first meeting under that afternoon sun,_  
_where you’ll happen upon me trapped beneath your feet.  
_ _Greeting me with barbed roses clasped between your teeth,_

 _stolen from your sisters’ garden. You’ll come again and again, asking for pardon._  
_Filling up my well with fairy metal trinkets and tales to bargain._  
_They fell, fallen like tiny rains, sinking stars all around. And_  
  
_Rising with the water to the nocturnal sound, I wet my lips._  
_For your heart, my rose dear, smudged in our eclipse,  
_ _became visible in just one look. Like a fish hooked onto your hue._

 _It is difficult to take my eyes off  
_ _the star named you._

* * *

Sunday has come again.

Unsatisfied, Hyunjin fishes another kit kat from her confectionery jar, adding to the number of times she’s looked up from her writing. She draws a limited pumpkin edition from her candy-lottery. It’s the last bar she’d been saving since she purchased all of her snacks with Ara.

Already feeling warmer at the memory, Hyunjin sniffles through her stuffy nose and quietly slides the candy out of its wrapper. Pumpkin spice chocolate is a good remedy for colds. (It’s got cinnamon, right? Cinnamon’s good for congestion.) She must’ve gotten one sleeping with the air conditioner on, and to no fault of her own, woken up early with the rain because of it.

That and the vivid dreams she keeps on having but can’t remember the details to.

She couldn’t go back to sleep and hadn’t exactly been keeping track of time then, but now it’s 6:48 in the morning. Hyunjin had spent that time sitting at her table, staring at the water droplets accumulating through the window that she couldn’t fully close. Which was ok on the occasions like today that the grey sky conveniently cries on her potted plants.

Not wanting to leave her watch spot and having nearly studied out of boredom as she waited for the sun, she quickly moved onto inventing her own language.

Loose cursive characters started more as an exercise in penmanship had since disintegrated into cat-bread doodles, accented with eyebrows, and alphabetized in the calendar grids of her planner.

After what could’ve been half an hour rehearsing the different intonations of ‘aeongs’ to her glaring-gluten glyphs, Hyunjin finally felt inspired enough to return to her poetic scrawlings.

She may have promised something of a consistent update to her pen pals, but Hyunjin hasn’t had much luck filling in her latest letters. Something was missing.

She vacantly pushes her paper around with the rubber end of her pencil, towards her Munhak Dongnae Poets collection abandoned with her stack of assignments on the left side of the table. To her right sits a box of hoarded postcards and yellow-eared envelopes, hiding remnants of melted wax on the table cloth.

A tall glass of water and white candy jar is perched besides the tiny box, close by her writer’s hand.

If one cannot create, one must consume. Munching on her prelude-wafer, she wrings its plastic sleeve companient, eyes milking the orange ingredients label for inspirational components:

 _Sugar, vegetable oil, wheat flour, nonfat milk, corn syrup solids, lactose (milk), chocolate, natural & artificial flavor, artificial color, lecithin (soy), salt, yeast, baking soda, tocopherols— _Huh.

No cinnamon.

A symphony of sweetness dances on her tongue but soon its absence leaves a bitter aftertaste.

Hyunjin decides she’s had enough of chocolate. She washes everything down with a gulp of water. Standing up to stretch, Hyunjin places her emptied drinking glass on the top of the mini fridge. Her phone vibrates in sync with her movements.

 **_HEEJIN:_ ** _hey, you’re working today right? i want cheesy pasta and haseul says she knows a good place. i’m swinging by bab later to pick you up if you want lunch with us._

Averting a smile at the glowing screen, Hyunjin quickly texts back once she realizes how much time had lapsed and rushes to get ready for her short morning-to-noon shift.

 **_HYUNJIN:_ ** _i’ll be there!_

There’s a crash.

 _(Butterfly echoes of_ _clinking_ _crushing porcelain, smears of nocturnal ink in the folds of her paper forest. Bent and blooming fog, humming the untouchably dangerous song of secret longings. Curiosity sets her notes on a hungry open flame— its corrosive light, bleaching shadows, shines GUILTY in her heart.)_

Hyunjin jerks as the memories distort her senses. Momentarily aggrieved by the stringent taste of powdered metal and rot, the ashes quickly dissolve in her saliva. She swallows thickly, and nothing remains.

Her voile curtains, billowing from the sudden gust of wind, stay afloat for a few seconds too long in the stale air.

Hyunjin’s wilted red roses lie crushed beneath its white porcelain vase. She crouches down to fish the flowers from the crumbling wet soil and shattered pieces of ceramics.

Hyunjin honestly wishes her visitor would find less destructive ways to call for her attention.

Light breaks through the clouds above and pools into the room. Hearing the shadows come to life as it swats at a bouquet of loose leaflets behind her back, she turns in time to see her tidy stack of stationary spill onto the wooden panels below. She catches her pencil just as it’s rolling off the table with stunning reflex. And the cat, frozen with a single paw on her tiny box, doesn’t so much as flinch.

Today’s cat is different, but it’s always the same character. She knows _—_

_(In this moment, small greed reunited,_

_we are strangers, eyes lit by the gleam of stars.)_

Hyunjin smiles at the familiar pair of yellow eyes. “You never let me see how you come in.”

She reaches out to pet the feline but it slips away from her attempt, flashing a vexful _look_ that she is far too acquainted with.

“It’s ok, since you brought the sun with you, I actually have something for you today.”

Locating her planner, Hyunjin snaps a picture of the key cipher from her calendar to save on her phone. She transcribes three cat-buns on the front of a clean envelope, tears out the month of February, and tucks it neatly inside.

Watching its tail flicker from side-to-side as the cat licks the envelope shut, she takes the opportunity to coddle the appeased courier.

From “How have you been, Lovely? What a cute face.” to “Why’re you so big? Ugh, you shed so much.” the cat squirms with a cascade of fur on Hyunjin’s lap, increasingly eager to escape.

“Ah, wait.” Successfully shirking off its excess coat, the cat pauses mid-slink, staring back intently at Hyunjin with the cosmos in its eyes. “Please let her know that I’ll try harder to remember the dreams next time. Trust me, ok?”

A cock of its ears and twitching whiskers. Her messenger shows no further signs of acknowledgement before vanishing out of the window with her letter in its mouth.

At least it’s kind enough to show how it leaves.

Hyunjin shuffles about in the aftermath. Collecting her belongings off of the floor, she shoves her drafted poem into a red handbag, and runs off to catch the train and the returning grey showers.

* * *

Hyunjin’s work shifts go by slower nowadays.

The sub-in employee at the front desk doesn’t _click_ with Hyunjin’s humor, dry in a way that’s achingly familiar and somehow _not_. He’s just another college student from her university who knows a thing or couple about sports, who knows Hyunjin by name, face, and ability― she’s someone to be looked up to and admired.

Basically, Hyunjin isn’t interested in conversation, and she’s a little bored. She tries to make up for it with extra theatrics in Whiskers’ usual antics, shaking off the sensation of her skin buzzing with pent-up energy.

She picks kids up. She twirls them around by the ankles. She apologizes to irate parents when children throw up their double dutch ice cream in mall plants, then passes time with something safer.

She engages in a round of wrestling with a child, using the strewn about cotton ursidae. It’s just enough to work for today.

She spies Heejin through the window of the Build-A-Bear; a fatal error, and now her bear is caught in a Boston crab. But Heejin is here! Scurrying to the backroom, Hyunjin shimmies out of her costume, changes into her jeans and muscle tee, and bolts it out the door five minutes before her shift is meant to end, barely nodding goodbyes to her coworkers.

Heejin wears a brown jacket over a simple white t-shirt, finishing off the simple yet stylish fit with black jeans and a guitar case by her feet. She looks up from her phone when Hyunjin bounces forward with approval, a grin tugging at her lips. “Hey Heejin! It’s been a while. Have you been waiting long?”

Heejin rolls her eyes, setting her phone down on the table. The nine tiled squares suggest sudoku. “We see each other all the time on campus, nerd. And no, not really. I’ve only been here for a few minutes.”

Heejin’s mood has improved drastically since her breakup two weeks ago. Hyunjin’s relieved to see her wear an open, amused expression, faux-annoyance given away by the twitch of her mouth, and the detached indifference in her eyes is more like a distant dream than a concrete memory.

Hyunjin rocks back on her heels, watching her sub-in coworker take over the wrestling match, watching people in general, before turning back to Heejin.  “You said we were meeting Haseul, right?”

“She’s running a little late. We’re going to be meeting her there instead.”

“You could have texted, and dropped off your guitar at your dorm,” Hyunjin points out. “I wouldn’t have minded meeting you guys there.”

Heejin shrugs loosely. “I wanted to walk with you. Who else are you going to annoy?”

They’ve come a long way from Heejin crying into an ice cream sundae. Heejin laughs at Hyunjin’s pout, swinging her instrument onto her back as she stands, and sporting a sly grin that holds Hyunjin’s heart at gunpoint. “Ready when you are, Hyun.”

* * *

“Sorry. I was catching up on sleep,” Haseul smiles sheepishly, once they get settled down at their table. Heejin in her window seat, Haseul besides her, and Hyunjin across from the pair.

Haseul looks good in casual: green bomber jacket with black hugging jeans and a band shirt Hyunjin thinks Ara’s been in― which is a thought she’s not sure she wants to pursue― and her usual spectacles. Given the circles under her eyes, she probably needed the extra half hour of rest.

“You’re fine,” Heejin says. “What do you recommend?”

“So if you turn the page...” Haseul points out several dishes that would best suit Heejin’s palette. Hyunjin’s brow raises at their selection.

“You and your obscure restaurants,” Hyunjin says, bemused. Haseul grins and sends a finger heart.

“You love it.”

They place their orders with little fuss, Hyunjin picking out whatever sounded the best (beef bourguignon) and Heejin ordering along to Haseul’s suggestions.

“How have you all been?” Haseul asks after the waitress leaves.

“Hyunjin and I have been exploring different places to eat,” Heejin muses, chin in palm. “I’ve been craving something new.”

Heejin doesn’t have the same affection for the stores she used to frequent. There’s something significant in that, but it’s a thought to return to later.

Hyunjin shrugs, blowing the paper covering off of her straw towards Heejin. “Decent. But today was good.”

“Mainly because I was there,” Heejin says, before retaliating. Her straw wrapping lands halfway across the table.

Hyunjin sucks in air through her teeth. “Well…” At the sight of Heejin’s pout she cracks a smile. “You’re right. Work’s just been harder. School’s been harder, too. I wish it would just―”

She makes an explosion sound effect, complete with hand twinkling.

“I didn’t think you struggled with school,” Heejin says.

“Maybe hard was the wrong word. It’s more tedious than anything.”

“I’m in agreement,” Haseul says. She twists together their paper straw wrappings into a double helix. “Effort is difficult to come by near the end of the semester.”

Heejin’s brows are furrowed. She’s about to say something, but is cut off when their food arrives. She reaches for the cheese shaker and adds until the pasta is barely visible through the cover of her snowstorm.

“You want some pasta with your parmesan?” Hyunjin asks dryly.

“This is the best way to eat it! Don’t judge.”

“Uh huh…” Hyunjin takes a spoon to her own dish and takes a bite. She delights in the foreign taste, making happy noises. “Oh, this is really good. How do you find these types of places, Haseul?”

Haseul smiles. “Sometimes I miss the food in America and get a craving.”

They make idle chatter, Hyunjin and Heejin weedling Haseul into divulging her adventures in Denver. Most of what they get is food, facetiming Yeojin, language struggles, and more food.

“I got to watch a lot of American films. The theatre was located right next to the uni, and my friend had a projector set-up in her dorm.”

Hyunjin perks up. A cinephile? “What’d you watch?”

“Moonlight. Paris is Burning… I showed her The Handmaiden.” Haseul spins her own utensils absentmindedly as she recalls the reactions of her friends.

Hyunjin’s smile grows wide and splitting. Haseul’s a queer film enthusiast. She amends the thought onto her other collected notions about the woman. “I love horror.”

Heejin blinks. “We were sobbing at the horror house two weeks ago, Hyunjin-ah.”

Hyunjin waves a hand. “That’s different. I like books and films.”

Controlled fear, in a controlled environment. Curled underneath her blankets, headphones on fullblast, and after it’s done she’d be jumping at her shadow for a week. Oh _yes_. (Tears and snot may or may not be included, but it’s part of the package.) It’s like death without the dying, and she’s always been a thrill-seeker.

Heejin tilts her head and eats another forkful of pasta. “What’s the appeal?”

Hyunjin’s breath catches as she looks down at her half-eaten beef bowl.

There’s so much she could say. She could force the world to a standstill and talk about gothic literature alone for hours.

“Horror is…” she starts slowly, “about the things that scare us because we can’t comprehend them.”

It’s not enough to encompass her love for the genre. Somehow, Hyunjin thinks Haseul and Heejin understand anyway. She smiles tentatively.

“But honestly? When I was 15 I thought Sadako was hot,” Hyunjin says. Haseul lets out a sharp bark of surprised laughter, Heejin doubling over her food. “I still think she’s hot. I’d set up a dinner date in front of my vcr with scented candles and buttered popcorn before she kills me.”

“Sadako feeds on human fear,” Haseul points out. “Assuming she could be bribed with― with home cooked meals, killing you would be counterintuitive.”

Hyunjin gapes. “Oh my god, you’re right.”

“If she’s trailing after Hyunjin she doesn’t really have fear to feed on,” Heejin says, twirling her fork.

“My love is like protein. Carbohydrates for the telepath.”

“Cholesterol for the soul,” Haseul says, adding to Hyunjin’s enthusiasm.

“If I were a ghost crawling out of a 10 foot well, I’d appreciate your cerebral egg whites and yogurt love.” Heejin clutches both her hands over her heart.

Hyunjin laughs into her cup of water to hide a flustered smile. “That reminds me. Ara and I have been putting off watching the movies. When she comes back we should all watch together…?”

Heejin pales. “Only if we watch with the lights on. I want to see your horror lover.”

“She leaves me on read, but I’ll woo her eventually.”

“I’d love to watch with you as well,” Haseul says. Her brows knit together momentarily, hesitating to speak. Hyunjin wonders if she should ask, but Haseul’s expression disappears once the waitress comes by with her two cheesecakes to share.

Heejin sneaks several bites. Hyunjin shovels the other half into her face, letting out a muffled “what” when Heejin smiles and pokes at her puffed up cheeks. Haseul hands Hyunjin a napkin while packing up the rest of the dessert.

When the waitress returns, Heejin and Hyunjin both reach for their respective bags, but Haseul slides out a black credit card first. “I’ll pay for this meal. Thank you for the lunch date, Heekkie, Hyun. I needed a breath of fresh air.”

Heejin clasps her hands together, bending her head down slightly. “My wallet is relieved, unnie. I love you.”

“We should be the ones thanking you,” Hyunjin says.

Haseul waves a hand. “Thank Heejin for all of her whining. I forget to feed myself sometimes when I’m preoccupied with a project.”

Hyunjin can’t say she relates, but she understands.

“What have you been working on recently?” Heejin asks.

“I’m not sure. I’m just experimenting with arbitrary materials and properties.”

“It was fun meeting up, and I’ll pay you back one day,” Hyunjin says, still rummaging through her belongings. “I haven’t forgotten about last time with Ara, either. Just put it on my tab.”

Haseul’s expression turns inquisitive again. “Actually, Hyunjin. Have you been able to get in contact with Ara?”

Other than a cryptic message with vague details about how she was going to be staying in Hong Kong longer than she originally planned, it’s been radio silent from the other woman. Judging from Haseul’s disposition, Hyunjin expects she hasn’t heard anything from Ara, either.

Hyunjin’s a little irritated, but mostly worried. Haseul, unnervingly, must have read something in her face. “Ah, I see. I’ll let you know if I hear anything. You’ll do the same?”

“Of course. Would it kill her to text?” Hyunjin grumbles. Her ruffling inside her handbag becomes a little more incessant.

Haseul manages a smile as she packs up. “She’ll talk to us when she’s ready, I’m sure.”

Heejin says, turning to Hyunjin. “Are you ready to go?”

Hyunjin finally just groans, recalling the keychain hanging innocently from where she changed out of her mascot uniform, next to the cat helmet. Her head thunks against the back of the sofa. “I left my keys at the Build-A-Bear.”

* * *

The duo hustles back to the Build-A-Bear after Hyunjin confirmed that her keys were still there with a quick call to her manager.

Hyunjin spares her coworkers a haste acknowledgment before she scampers into the backroom. Heejin trails after her curiously, the lollipop she grabbed from the diner clacking once against her teeth. There isn’t much to look at beyond stacks of boxes filled with deflated animal plushies, extra cotton stuffing, and an old, out of use stuffing machine.

Hyunjin sighs, finding her keychain hanging from the same hook her helmet hangs from. A painless venture, if a useless one. Heejin plays with one of the deflated animals leftover from last Christmas season, prodding at reindeer antlers bent in awkward angles.

“Why’d you get this job, Hyunjin?”

“It was just a fluke,” Hyunjin admits.

She remembers it like it was only a couple of months ago: She was running away from mall security, stolen nerf guns in hand, and set the water fountain on fire as a distraction before ducking into the Build-A-Bear. Ara, like the crooked angel she was, hid Hyunjin underneath the counter, and then helped Hyunjin land the job because there weren’t enough employees.

“It’s close to the university and pays well enough. Being a mascot didn’t sound that hard, either.”

Heejin peeks curiously at the helmet. “Can I try it on?”

“Sure.” Hyunjin reaches for the cat head on the side, grabbing the paws after a brief contemplation. She helps Heejin put it on, slotting it onto her shoulders with little hassle.

“Hello, Whiskers.” Hyunjin waves at the mascot.

Heejin curls her hand into a loose fist at her chin. “In all levels including physical, I am a cat. Aeong.” She does a familiar little dance routine. “How do I see in this?” Her voice comes out muffled by the costume.

Hyunjin smothers a smile. “You get used to the impaired vision. Hold on, try to follow me.”

She claps to her far right. Heejin tentatively reaches out, only for Hyunjin to shift to clapping on the other side. Heejin lumbers after her.

“You can do better,” she teases, ducking under the slow lunge. She can imagine the puff of Heejin’s cheeks under the mask. Heejin suddenly pounces after her, stumbling into a mountain of cardboard boxes kept besides the stuffing machine. Hyunjin’s hand darts out to keep her balanced.

“You’re more like a puppy in a cat’s body,” Hyunjin says. Clumsy and cute.

“I don’t understand how you move in this thing. It’s _heavy_ ,” she says with one hand gripping onto Hyunjin’s arm.

“It took me a couple of days to get used to it, too,” Hyunjin laughs. It pitters off when Heejin shifts to grip onto Hyunjin’s shoulders. She raises a brow as she looks into the impassive mascot’s chocolate orbs.

“Are you okay, Hyunjin?”

“Of course. Why wouldn’t I be?”

“You just seem… distracted.”

Hyunjin takes the moment to think.

She’s been restless recently. Usually she’d blow off steam by working out, but it’s hard to keep routine with her gym buddy if the woman’s in Hong Kong.

“I’m fine,” Hyunjin says when the silence stretches. She’d shake it off eventually.

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah.”

Heejin drops her hands. “Okay.”

...It’s a little awkward. This is why _she’s_ the one in the cat costume, playing cat therapist, no matter how much Haseul jokes about toxoplasma gondii via fursuit cat sweat.

Heejin plays with the ends of her sleeves. “You know you can talk to me about anything, right? I’ll try to be a good listener.”

...But Heejin isn’t half-bad at playing the part. Hyunjin’s eyes soften.

“I know. Thank you, Heejin. This is enough.”

Heejin shrugs in an attempt to be casual. “If you say so. I was worried.” She hesitates. “I just want you to know I appreciate you. I couldn’t have asked more from you as a friend.”

Hyunjin’s heart drums a steady tempo.

“I’m glad we met. I’m glad we got to talk.”

Hyunjin swallows, and in a burst of overwhelming affection, she crosses the distance between them to cradle the mask in between her hands, and plants a kiss atop its nose. Heejin freezes, shoulders stiffening up to her ears, and the feeling of elation sinks like an anchor from her heart to the bottom of her feet.

Hyunjin retracts her hands. Face burning hot. Heejin stays stock still for another moment before she forces her body to relax. She struggles to take off the mask before Hyunjin steps in, removing it in practiced efficiency. The cat head returns to its original hook, and Hyunjin meets Heejin’s eyes with great effort.

Heejin’s fidgeting with the ends of her jacket, face flushed from the heat of the costume, uncertain and hesitant in a way Hyunjin rarely ever sees.

She wonders if she should apologize, dragging her not-so subtle attraction out into the open, the one she’s now pretty sure Heejin was purposefully oblivious to. But apologizing would make it too real. Heejin opens her mouth―

There’s a bang on the door that makes them both jump.

“Did you find your keys, Hyunjin?”

“Yeah!” she calls back. There’s an exclamation of recognition in return.

The tension dissipates. Heejin picks her guitar back up, strapping it slowly to her back. Her cheeks are still flared red from wearing the mask. Inexplicably Hyunjin worries about how prone Heejin is to heat exhaustion.

Something flashes in Heejin’s eyes. “Follow me somewhere.”

* * *

 

There’s a new distance between them as they wander through the park. It’s a popular location for couples when the white carnations bloom in late spring. For now, only the occasional strangers pass through. Hyunjin watches two blonde women pass by, both wearing eyepatches before her gaze moves towards the sky.

Night approaches in smooth lavender and sorbet blues, not yet dark enough for the streetlamps to flick on. A light breeze sweeps across the treeline, sending a rustle of leaves and petals into the walkway. Hyunjin feels compelled to lace their fingers together and see if they could touch the clouds.

But the kiss lingers in between them, emotions stacked on top of the impulse, and it’s enough to stop Hyunjin from doing anything rash.

It’s hard to tell what Heejin’s thinking. Her expression has been ambivalent, contemplative ever since they left the Build-a-Bear. If Hyunjin ruined things between them she’d probably cry.

“Let’s sit down here,” Heejin says. She nudges against Hyunjin, tugging at her sleeve to pull her into a field of grass, still damp from the earlier rain. Her fingers graze across Hyunjin’s hand. The action is deliberative, calculating in a way Hyunjin can’t place, but the tension unravels from her chest. Maybe they’re okay.

Hyunjin settles down next to Heejin, watching her bring out the guitar from her case. She plucks at the grass, grabbing by the handful and pulling it out of the ground as Heejin picks lightly at her guitar.

“Hey Hyunjin.” She looks thoughtful.

“Yeah?”

“You said you played guitar before.”

Hyunjin mentioned it casually on one of their previous lunch meetups; she picked up the guitar, when she was in high school and needed something other than sports to pass the time. She was good at it, but―

“I haven’t played in a long time.”

“Do you know any songs?”

“I… _wrote_ a song… once…” It helped spark her writing muse, then she started writing full time instead. Heejin’s eyes light up nearly gold in the sunset.

“Do you remember how to play it?”

Hyunjin bites her lip, her resolve already putty underneath Heejin’s gaze. “I can try.”

Hyunjin adjusts and readjusts the instrument in her lap. She hums under her breath to recall the old tune. Muscle memory guides her movements through the chords, fingers stinging, trembling from nerves and the weight of Heejin’s stare.

She makes the mistake of looking up. Heejin’s features are soft in the receding light, everything subdued except for the nervous half-smile, half-smirk she has on around a new lollipop. Watermelon pink.

“You’re really cute today. Serenade me, Hyun.”

Hyunjin messes up immediately, face heating up. Her loss of finger strength dulls out the chords. She never quite recovers but smooths it out enough into a passably endearing rendition:

_“I can't get my courage up. I just leave again, without a word.”_

Had past-Hyunjin known she would one day be expected to play guitar for a pretty girl she would have kept with the music business. As it is her fingers have a mild ache, her voice is a little rough, and she feels kind of like a loser.

Heejin claps after the performance regardless, eyes wide as if Hyunjin had handed her the moon itself, and not a struggling, fumbling song.

“You wrote that? That’s amazing!”

Hyunjin feels her ears go pink. “It’s not a big deal. I had the words and sound for ages…”

“Give yourself some more credit. Maybe you should be the one in BBC.”

Hyunjin laughs at the thought. It looks like they’re back to how they usually are after all. Her nerves slip away like water through her fingers. She hands the guitar back to Heejin. “It’s your turn to serenade me now.”

“Your wish is my command.”

Hyunjin rolls her eyes, laying down on the grass. Heejin clears her throat, and strums to prepare herself. She pauses to spit out the finished lollipop into her wrapper.

“This is the song we recorded in the studio. It’s one of my favorites.” Then she starts to sing.

“ _You, I dream of being with you. Dreams of singing with you.”_

Her voice hums in the space in between them, soft and fluttering. Hyunjin closes her eyes, enjoying the remnants of sunset, and the wind that blows through, petals carried on the breeze. She could probably doze off listening to her voice. It blankets snug around her head.

Heejin holds out the last note, ending the song. Hyunjin hums softly from beside her, the melody captured in the space between them.

“You’re an incredible singer,” Hyunjin says honestly, looking at the sky. “I could probably listen to you forever.”

The singer looks down, bearing a hesitant smile at her. “You’re flattering, but I’m not losing my voice for you.”

Hyunjin chuckles, pushing herself up to a sitting position. “Actually, can I ask you something? Did you always want to be a singer?”

“Pretty much. I loved Girls’ Generation since forever. I made my parents sit through so many of my performances…”

Hyunjin tries to imagine a smaller, pigtailed Heejin dancing along to Gee for the 200th time, much to her parent’s chagrin. “That’s _adorable_.”

Heejin laughs. “Thanks. I guess it was always expected. Is there anything you want to do?”

Hyunjin hesitates, frowning.

“It's ok. You don’t have to say anything if you don’t want to.”

“It’s fine, I’m just thinking.” Hyunjin hurriedly assures, biting her lip. “I’m not so sure yet. I don’t have to really… try, to be good at things. Like, basketball or sports. I don’t even need to really study to get by in school.”

Heejin plays a mild tune on her guitar, and it helps fill in the silence. It’s a nostalgic melody, one Hyunjin remembers hearing but can’t quite put her finger on.

“I used to bounce back and forth between a lot of extracurriculars because none of them would hold my interest. I was so antsy as a kid.”

“Oh. Is that what’s happening now?”

Hyunjin blinks, before a shy smile tugs at her lips, a small thrill of delight running through her when she realizes Heejin noticed something about her. “Yeah. Sorry if I’ve been out of it.”

“You don’t have to apologize for that.”

“Anyway. I don’t know yet, but I love writing. There’s no objective metric for how good I am as a writer. Not everyone’s going to like what I write, that’s what makes it fun. I can never be the best. I can always improve. I like the challenge.”

“I’d love to see more of your writing, Hyun. If you wrote those lyrics a long time ago, you must’ve improved a lot since.”

“Thanks.” Hyunjin shifts in place, clearing her throat. “I’m not that confident about it but I’ll be happy to share with you. I didn’t get to say this earlier, but I’m glad I got the courage to talk to you, too.”

Heejin’s eyes soften and melts in a way Hyunjin doesn’t expect.

“You have something in your hair,” Heejin says mildly. Hyunjin is completely thrown by the non-sequitur, but when Heejin reaches out her body stiffens. Her finger plucks out a shred of cursed greenery from her hair.

“Heejin?” Hyunjin says, hushed.

Determination flashes through her eyes then, and Hyunjin feels the hand behind her ear come down to cup her face.

Heejin leans forward and there’s a soft pressure against her cheek that lingers.

Hyunjin stops breathing, her hands clenched tight in the grass.

Heejin pulls away, face flushed but satisfied, the force of her grin crinkling her eyes. Her thumb rubs against Hyunjin’s cheek. She could probably feel Hyunjin blushing.

“Sorry, I got my lipstick on you.”

“It’s okay,” Hyunjin manages with her tongue locked up. Her face hurts from how wide she’s grinning, and she can imagine the pink staining her cheek, rubbing onto Heejin’s thumb.

She wonders how long Heejin’s been waiting to kiss her since they left the Build-A-Bear, and her heart swells.

“Can I ask what this means?” Hyunjin says once Heejin pulls away. They watch the moon glow brighter in the nautical twilight. She revels in the moment.

(For a brief instant, something about their moment feels achingly familiar. Time and space stretch on for infinity in front of them, behind them. They sit in the middle, symmetrical to it all. The feeling fades in the span of a blink.)

“I think you’re sweet and very charming. But give me more time,” Heejin says softly. “And promise me this.”

“Yeah?”

Heejin holds out a pinky.

“This is going to sound childish,” Heejin says, laughing. “But I’m afraid of losing things. I’d like it if we could be friends through anything that happens.”

“I promise,” Hyunjin doesn’t hesitate before locking the finger with her own. “You and me together.”

Underneath the milk moon and the creamy skies, the promise remained sweet on her tongue, sweeter than any velvet crush or pumpkin chocolate. Heejin’s grin is brighter than all of the candied stars combined.

“That’s all I want to ask of you.”

* * *

 

Haseul finishes her leftover cheesecake for dinner. Though not quite satisfied with just dessert, she plays a delicate game of jenga, stacking her plate on a pile of dirty dishes in the sink before stalking off to scavenge the fridge for family dumplings.

It’s only then that she becomes aware of the petite figure looming by the kitchen island.

Yeojin is a still image, seemingly paused mid-water change with an array of aquatic equipment on the counter and a decorated light bulb cradled inside her palms. The golden base of the bulb is still sealed. She doesn’t seem to have noticed Haseul’s presence either.

Haseul grabs two Ceylon lemon tea boxes from the fridge and sets a course for her step-sister.

“What’s wrong, Yeojinie?” Haseul asks, making sure not to startle her. She slides the drink on the counter.

Yeojin acknowledges her with a purse of the lips, her attention briefly flitters to the drink before snapping back to her ever engrossing pocket-aquarium life. Two snails creeping about in their underwater playground: one on the tip of a brown branch leaning upright against the glass, and the other along the green and white crystal pebbles by the marimo algae ball.

“The baby won’t come up today.” Yeojin replies.

“Ahh… poor thing.” Haseul understands now. When the marimo is happy, it floats to the surface and brings Yeojin joy.

The girl takes pride in the meticulous care she has for raising her pets. She has been sensitive with the topic however ever since her first, a pretty red snail, passed away not too long ago.

“Can I see?” Haseul gestures for permission. Yeojin swaps the bulb for the lemon drink. Haseul does a brief survey, waiting until Yeojin finishes a sip before she continues, “Maybe the baby’s just resting after a long day. Where did you take them out today?”

“We went to visit an old friend.”

“Did you guys have fun?”

“We did, but Marimo’s still feeling down.”

“Aww, Gilchi wouldn’t want that.” They had been friends from day 1, coming home together as a pair. “Maybe Marimo will feel better if you passed along a message?” Haseul suggests.

Brandishing a teasing curve of her lips, the engineer produces a paper star from her pocket and presses it into Yeojin’s open hand. Yeojin drinks slowly, processing her intentions.

It takes a moment. Closing her eyes, “...Gilchi-ah,” Yeojin squeezes tight. “You already passed the rainbow bridge but let’s meet again. Marimo and I, and all of your friends too, we miss you a lot! I’m sorry I couldn’t feed you more.” She sniffles. “Let’s meet again, if possible. Bye.”

Yeojin kisses the fist holding the star. Haseul laughs and pats Yeojin’s dumpling hair. “Good baby girl.” She says dotingly, moving her hand to scratch under Yeojin’s chin.

Yeojin opens her eyes, hissing and snarling. She chases after Haseul’s hand with vicious chomps and a beaming, crooked grin. When she opens her throwing fists, she finds the star fluttering and throbbing in the curve of her palm until it flattens back into a single sheet.

A heat-activated mechanism to return to its default state. Haseul inwardly bristles with glee.

She’s not sure why the rambunctious noises suddenly die down though, until she sees Yeojin’s eyes keen on her unopened Ceylon box.

“Hey Haseul.” She sounds serious. “You bought these drinks with Ara right?”

“Yeah. Do you want more?”

“No. I’m fine. Have you been ok? You’ve been disappearing off more than usual lately.”

“It’s nothing to worry about. I’ve just been busy, you know, getting all wrapped up in my own head again.”

“Yeah. I wished you’d just tell me if something’s bothering you. You know you can talk to me.”

“Thanks, that’s really sweet. I’ll come to you if things get too out of hand.”

“Only because Ara isn’t here.” Haseul flinches. Even at the devastating obvious.

Yeojin takes it as a sign to pursue.

“You may not be the perfect sister, and you don’t have to be, but you’re still my sister. I want to try to understand what you’re going through.”

The elder nods.

“…Do you miss her?” Yeojin waits cautiously as Haseul slowly punctures her own Ceylon container with a drinking straw.

“Everyday I miss her.”

“Do you think she’s ok?”

“I don’t know, but I wish I knew.”

Yeojin pitters into silence afterwards, not knowing what else to say. Not that Haseul was expecting anything. There wasn’t much they could do in this situation, but she’s touched regardless.

“I’m tired.” Haseul says, somewhat relieved that she means it. “I’m calling it a night, little dumpling. Make sure you brush your teeth and go to sleep when you’re done.”

Haseul retires from the kitchen in an easy, controlled gait, tossing out their finished drinks and leaving Yeojin to resume the task of feeding her companions and transferring them back into their main tank.

“Sweet dreams!” Yeojin calls out before she turns the corner.

“Mhmm.” Haseul smiles to herself when she’s out of sight. “I hope so.”

Descending deep into the belly of the Jo’s residence, Haseul makes sure to double check the locks to her laboratory.

It’s dark inside the room. The windows are sealed. And there are strings. Strips of origami sheets paperclipped to threads woven from wall to wall, ceiling to floor, on wire framed mounts.

Haseul weaves through the blueprints of her spider's nest. She’s careful not to trigger any sudden vibrations to the sensors of her new barrier system. Built like a lair-leptomeninx, Haseul pulls out her smart key anyway― two beeps, the lights turn on and the web powers off― just to be safe. While she considers herself small and nimble enough for the feat, she admits her choice design could use some improvement to help with the navigation… here and there… Mainly in organization.

Her furnishings had been pushed around in a bizarre configuration to accommodate the layout changes. So quick to the call of action, Haseul hadn’t thought the idea completely through at its conception and worked everything out in the spur of the moment.

Her primary work station, array of tools, and miscellaneous materials cluttered around the center. It’s her leather couch that’s positioned to be in the middle however, delegated with the best vantage point, right below the hanging centerpiece that everything was connected to.

Directly above her head, a dreamcatcher with three white feathers dangles from thin and sturdy lines of silk.

It’s a warding charm she received from a native artisanal trinket shop in Denver. The shopkeeper had gifted her the ability to catch shadows when she described in passing how uncomfortable she’d felt sleeping away from home.

Haseul’s glad to have been inspired again by sentimental objects discovered on her travels, and in those few seconds electrified by a rush of nostalgia, she lets it in. Then takes it down. This time she’s prepared to swallow her fears whole.

She places the dreamcatcher into a feathergrain wooden storage bin and buries it under layers of fire retardant fabrics.

The scientist lays to rest on her leather couch, wrapping up in a wool blanket and cushioning in snug with her trusty neck pillow. Two beeps, and the room goes dark again. She swaps her key for her phone.

Checking the last message she sent to Ara, the woman who had instructed her not to worry the night she had delayed the flight to return from Hong Kong―

 **_HASEUL:_ ** _I’ll see you later_

_Left on sent._

Haseul tries not to overthink how Ara hasn’t responded since.

She closes her eyes just as they begin to sting. Encumbered by truth and its tumultuous implications.

Feeling on the verge of a sleepless nightmare, the engineer coaxes the shape of her breathing, inhaling and exhaling until she’s gone with that very wind burning through her lungs― collapsing the temple built in her body, not too unlike a house of cards.

But Haseul may have the means to construct courage after all. It’s the last thought she tries to focus on.

It’s difficult, but when Haseul falls asleep that night, a grey thunderstorm is summoned, bellowing a roar all over Seoul.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> K_Morpho + plush_invicta: Hi, it’s been a while. We’re back from our school hiatus. Just to clarify, ‘excuse me, my manners just left the build-a-bear’ is part of a larger Loonaverse AU series we’ve been referring to as LMM. We understand that this may be off-putting to both new and old readers― this chapter serves as a precaution for the next couple of updates as Loonalore bleeds more into the mundane. Hopefully, it isn’t too much of a leap from the build of the previous chapters.
> 
> We encourage our readers to engage with constructive feedback on their impressions in-so-far. We would appreciate it, especially if you’re confused, for you to ask questions so that we could try to clarify any pertinent issues as early and as effectively as possible. And please don’t hesitate! We always LOVE to hear your speculations!
> 
> And if it is a little too much of a switch up, don’t worry, this chapter technically concludes the 2jin narrative. We wanted to at least give the simple (not-so-simple) 2jin Build-a-Bear Mascot AU a stand-alone fluffy ending, so you could happily depart here if you had initially picked this up just for 2jin. Thank you for sticking with us through the hiatus!
> 
> Otherwise, if you want to continue with the rest of the LMM series, catch up with Odd Eye Circle in ‘if this is for love, i’ll try defying gravity’ and keep a lookout for the next release. We’ll be following OEC before bouncing back to the 1/3 ensemble for the unit’s finale.
> 
> We are so happy to have made it this far with everybody’s support and want to continue tackling this ambitious narrative with even greater fervor and improvement. Again, thank you all for your patience! Though we're not completely satisfied with this chapter, please let us know what you think!


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